


Operation:  Thanksgiving

by MsBrooklyn



Series: Assembly Line (or Why It's a Lot Harder than Steve Thought to Recruit New Members) [9]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Daredevil (TV), Spider-Man (Ultimateverse), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Thanksgiving Dinner
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-11
Updated: 2015-11-26
Packaged: 2018-05-01 04:36:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 24,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5192570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsBrooklyn/pseuds/MsBrooklyn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Avengers have survived the chaos of celebrating Halloween and Veterans Day with the After School Avengers -- barely.  Will our heroes have a quiet Thanksgiving Dinner or will the best-laid plans of Steve and Aunt May go completely off the rails?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1  
  
  
  
Steve Rogers looks around the conference room at the grim faces of his team.  They are all staring intently at the graphic being holographically projected by JARVIS.  Matt is studying the graphic on his Braille display.  Bucky, who isn't officially an Avenger, is slouched in his chair, smirking at Steve.  
  
"As you can see, we have a situation on our hands," Steve says.  
  
Matt clears his throat.  "Some of this intel is outdated."  His fingers fly across his screen and the image being projected by JARVIS is updated.  "Billy, Teddy _and_ Mary Jane are having Thanksgiving dinner with their families.  They said they can be here for dessert.  Johnny Storm may or may not drop by and Kate told her parents she's having dinner with Jessica so she'll be here."  
  
Steve frowns at the update.  "I thought she was spending Thanksgiving in London with her father."  
  
"She did too but..."  Matt's mouth twists.  "Her father decided to take his secretary instead and her mother is in Grand Cayman with her tennis instructor.  According to Kate."  
  
"That sounds like every Thanksgiving I ever had," Tony remarks.  
  
"I wish my dad wasn't home on Thanksgiving when I was a kid," Clint mutters.  "He'd spend the day watching football and getting drunk.  By the time the turkey was ready...  You know what?  Never mind."  
  
Bruce gets up and leaves the room.    
  
"And that," Steve says, "is why we're having this strategy session.  May Parker wants us to have a real Thanksgiving and it's obvious that not one of us has ever had one.  Bucky and I grew up during the Depression --"  
  
"Here we go," Tony groans.  
  
"-- and it just wasn't the done thing.  Not like it is today," Steve continues smoothly.  He narrows his eyes at Tony.  "I won't bore you with the details but neither Bucky nor I had what you all consider a traditional Thanksgiving."  He pauses, just in case Tony has any further remarks to make before going on.  "The meal isn't the point of this meeting.  As each of you knows, the past two holidays were... challenging, to say the least."  
  
Clint snorts.  "The answer to that is child leashes, Steve."  
  
"I can design virtual child leashes," Tony offers and it's obvious he's already designing them in his head.  "It can be kind of like an invisible fence, with JARVIS monitoring each kid --"  
  
"Forget monitoring," Bucky says.  "Once they're in the building, they don't leave unless the adults approve it.  And there's no way in hell we're letting them go watch the parade.  Not after Halloween."  
  
"If there's trouble, we'll handle it," Clint agrees.  "Otherwise, they can watch the parade on TV, like every other New Yorker."  
  
"You realize that you've just jinxed the Thanksgiving Day Parade, don't you?" Matt asks.  "Up until now, the worst that ever happened was the balloons going out of control and knocking down lamp posts --"  
  
"It's not jinxed unless we let the kids go," Clint argues.    
  
Bucky nods his agreement.  "I can keep Petey busy by telling him I want him to run a diagnostic on my arm in Stark's lab."  
  
"Excuse me?" Tony huffs.  "Do I get a say in that, Snuggles?  You know, since it's my lab and all?"  
  
Bucky directs one of his Winter Soldier stares at Tony and Steve knows that's because of the 'Snuggles' crack. The photo of Peter hugging Bucky and the hashtag #WinterSoldierSnuggles is still trending high on social media.  "No."  
  
Tony rolls his eyes.  "Whatever.  You were going to end up in my lab anyway.  I have a design for a replacement arm that I wanted to show you."  
  
"I can keep Jessica busy sparring with Natasha," Matt begins.  
  
"Nope," Tony interrupts him.  "Pepper, Jane and Natasha are doing a spa day in the Tower.  Don't ask me how they found anyone to work on Thanksgiving, but they did.  It was Pepper's idea.  Darcy is going to be helping out Aunt May in the kitchen.  Maybe Jessica --"  
  
"Maybe Jessica doesn't want to be gender-stereotyped."    
  
"I'll spar with the Spider-Twins and Kate," Bucky offers.  "Clint and Kate can give them archery lessons.  And when they're exhausted, I'm sure they've got term papers to keep them busy.  Petey mentioned he's working on one."  
  
"I'll help with the training," Matt offers.  He tilts his head in Clint's direction.  "You've been threatening to see if I could hit a target using a bow and arrow.  This is as good an opportunity as any."  
  
Clint smirks.  "Especially if Thor comes to see you try."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?  
  
"Man crush," Clint coughs.  
  
"I'd like to spar with Thor," Bucky says.  
  
Steve nods.  "We could split into teams."  
  
"It'll keep the kids busy and wear 'em out."  
  
"And work up an appetite," Matt adds.  
  
The plan is airtight, Steve decides.  He's ready for Operation: Thanksgiving.  
  
  
  
  
0000000000000  
  
  
  
"I hope this is enough food," May Parker murmurs, reviewing her list.  "I went over this with Darcy --"  
  
"Are you _sure_ you don't need any help?" Pepper asks.  "It's not too late for me to hire some people to assist you."  
  
May shakes her head and smiles.  "Then it wouldn't be a home-cooked meal, would it?  Besides, I have all the help I need between Darcy and Karen."  
  
"I'd offer to stay and help but I burn water."  
  
"You run a multi-national corporation," May says.  "Cooking is the last thing you need to worry about.  Eating a balanced home-cooked meal is another story.  You, Natasha and Jane could all use that."  
  
"That we could," Pepper agrees.  "Everyone is looking forward to it.  Including Tony.  Don't let his remarks fool you, either.  He's very excited about it and so is the rest of the team."  She looks thoughtful.  "I just hope they don't get called away.  Trouble has a way of rearing its head and ruining plans, especially holiday plans."  
  
"Tell me about it," May agrees.  "Between us, I'm still recovering from watching what happened to Peter on the news on Veterans Day."  
  
Pepper frowns slightly.  "It was terrible but... Well, some good did come out of it.  The After School Avengers' existence became public knowledge and America is in love with Spider-man.  In fact, they prefer him as Spidey instead of Spidey in a Bucky Barnes costume and especially as Spidey hugging the real Bucky Barnes."  
  
"Winter Soldier Snuggles."  May can't help but smile as she says it.  "I've been seeing that hashtag everywhere.  I take it you had something to do with it."  
  
"Not directly.  There's an Avengers media team that handles social media."  
  
"Poor Bucky isn't sure whether he should be mortified or not."    
  
"The cuteness factor is working in his favor.  And Peter's."  Pepper's StarkPhone buzzes and she glances down at it before tucking it back into her pocket.  "Anderson Cooper is begging for an interview."  
  
May blinks in surprise and then shakes her head.  "They won't do it.  It's a pity but --"  
  
"But," Pepper says slowly, "it might be a good idea if we want to keep public opinion firmly on Bucky's side.  As a rule, none of the Avengers give interviews.  Steve hasn't given one since World War II.  I'm not sure it's the right direction to go in but it's worth having a discussion about with Steve."  
  
"Peter would do it if he thought it would help Bucky."    
  
"And that's why the hashtag is still trending.  The affection between the two in that photo is obvious," Pepper agrees.  "Up until that photo, all the public had was amateur footage of the Winter Soldier trying to kill his best friend and leaked HYDRA footage where he's been completely dehumanized --"  
  
"I don't want to think about those videos," May cuts her off.  "And I think that's how the rest of America feels too.  We grew up thinking of Bucky as a good man and a hero."  
  
"Exactly.  The 'snuggles' takes that to a whole different level but it brings his image firmly onto the side of the 'good guys.'  
  
"Bucky is good guy who hasn't had a proper Thanksgiving meal in seven decades," May says.  "That's more important than an interview with Anderson Cooper."  
  
Pepper smiles warmly.  "Amen.  Operation: Thanksgiving is underway."  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, what a reception for Chapter 1! As I post this latest chapter, there are over 500 hits which I have to say is overwhelming. I remember thinking when I posted 'Right Idea, Wrong Disability' that I'd be happy if I got ten hits and a couple of kudos. I could never have imagined so many of you would like my writing this much.
> 
> AO3 lets you gift your work to site members but there's no way to gift a work to everyone, other than to just say it in the notes or the summary. Well, dear readers, this one is for you. 
> 
> Much love, MsB

Chapter 2  
  
  
  
  
"You made a spreadsheet?" Peter asks dubiously.  
  
Mary Jane narrows her eyes at him.  "How do you think Captain America plans his operations?"  
  
"I've never seen him use a spreadsheet."  
  
Blowing out a frustrated sigh, Mary Jane looks around her kitchen, eyeing each After School Avenger in turn.  "If he had to figure out how to make enough dessert and snacks for tomorrow, he'd use one.  Trust me."  
  
Peter has to admit, the spreadsheet makes sense.  There are special treats to be made for each attendee and a corresponding recipe.  Thankfully, none of the recipes are horribly complicated.  Some just involve placing M&Ms or Reese's pieces on cookies.  Even the more complex decorations aren't so terrible.  "It's a good plan," Peter admits.  "You'd better be careful or he's gonna steal you for his team."  
  
"Does this mean I'm officially an After School Avenger now?" Mary Jane asks.  
  
"You were one before the rest of us were," Jessica assures her, stirring the vanilla cupcake mix.  
  
Teddy peers into Jessica's bowl, comparing his mixture to hers.  He's on chocolate cupcake duty.  "I'd be afraid to face you in a fight."  
  
Mary Jane snorts a laugh.  "You're such a dork."  
  
"He is," Billy agrees.  "But he's a lovable dork."  
  
"You are all," Mary Jane declares, "lovable dorks."  
  
Kate is frowning at her sheet of cookies.  "Hey, MJ, did I do this right?"  
  
Mary Jane looks over at the sheet of peanut butter cookies with Nutella and then at the other two trays of cookies.  "Perfect, Kate.  The oven is pre-heated --"  
  
"--Operation: Cookies is a go," Kate finishes for her.  She high-fives Jessica.  "Need any help, chica?"  
  
"Not until it's time to frost and decorate these suckers," Jessica says, setting her bowl down on the counter.  "We've got fourteen minutes for the cookies to bake."  
  
Mary Jane holds up a timer.  "Captain America himself couldn't run an op like this better."  
  
"You've been spending _way_ too much time with Bucky," Peter grins.  
  
"You say that like it's a bad thing."    
  
Peter's smile fades as he focuses on the view from Mary's kitchen window which gives him an almost-perfect view of his front door.  There's a slender blonde figure skulking on his front steps.  "Is that Gwen?"  
  
Mary Jane groans.  "You think her parents had another epic fight?"  
  
"No," Peter says, tugging off his apron.  "They haven't fought since her mom bailed.  If she's here, she's probably upset.  I should go see --"  
  
"You do that!"  Mary Jane's eyes are flashing.  
  
"Are you telling me you if that were Liz Allen, you wouldn't want me to make sure she's okay?" Peter counters.  
  
"Liz doesn't think you're cute.  Gwen does."  
  
"Are we really fighting about this now?  She's a friend.  I love _you_."  No sooner are the words out of his mouth than the entire team of ASAs makes cooing and kissing noises.  Peter can feel his entire body blush.  Well, since he's completely embarrassed himself anyway...  "I love you, MJ.  Let me go be a hero, okay?"  
  
MJ blows a strand of hair out of her face.  "Fine."  
  
"I'll go with," Kate offers.  "Keep Spidey out of trouble."  
  
"Ixnay on the Idey-spay!" Peter warns her.  Telling Kate not to come along would be pointless.  She only follows orders in the field and even then she tends to get creative.  Not that that's a bad thing.  Kate's helped him out of more than one tight spot and he has a feeling she's about to do it again.  
  
By the time they cross the street, Gwen is trying to let herself into Peter's basement.  "Yo, Petey?  You home?"  
  
"No," he tells her.  "We're at MJ's."  
  
Gwen lets go of the basement doors and straightens, eyeing Kate suspiciously.  Kate returns the favor, taking in Gwen's heavy makeup, nose ring, battered leather biker jacket, scuffed biker boots and too-tight clothing.  "Hey."  
  
"Hey.  I'm Kate."  
  
"Gwen."  
  
"You okay?" Peter asks.  He sees Gwen cut her eyes to Kate.  "You can talk in front of her."  
  
Gwen blows out a frustrated breath.  "Okay, so Thanksgiving wasn't going to be a big deal.  It was just gonna be takeout turkey from the deli.  Except my dad just got put on some stupid task force.  He tried calling Aunt May to ask if it'd be okay if I had dinner with you guys but I guess he couldn't reach her so he asked me and...  Ugh.  It's not a big deal.  I'll order pizza or something."  
  
Peter knows without looking at Kate that she's wondering about the task force and how to pump Gwen for information about it.   "I... uh, there's kind of a family thing that we're doing tomorrow night.  I-I'd invite you but it's not my house and, uh --"  
  
"I get it," Gwen waves him off.  "You have a nice time with the Avengers.  Don't worry about me."  She turns on her heel and starts walking down Peter's driveway.  
  
His mouth drops open but he recovers from his stunned stupor in time to catch her before she can reach the sidewalk.  "What?  No!  I don't know the Avengers.  I-I'm just a kid from Queens --"  
  
"A kid from Queens who lives with Bucky friggin' Barnes," Gwen cuts him off.  "Maybe nobody else noticed the resemblance between your freaky hobo cousin James and the guy with the robo-arm but I've slept over your house and, hello... I'm not stupid.  And even if I were, he calls me 'doll' so I'd have to be a total moron not to figure that out.  Also, I know you're Spider-man.  I knew even before Bucky moved into your house.  I-I think Kong knows too."  
  
Peter groans and buries his face in his hand.  "Does Flash know?"  
  
"Flash is the biggest moron on the planet," Gwen tells him.  "He'd have to see you in your Spidey suit and even then he'd never figure it out."  
  
Kate is smirking.  She holds out her hand to Gwen.  "I'm Hawkeye."  
  
"I thought Hawkeye was a dude," Gwen says, shaking Kate's hand.  "With really awesome arms."  
  
"He is.  I'm Hawkeye, too."  
  
Peter's heart is pounding in his chest.  "You can't tell anyone."  
  
"I know," Gwen says, rolling her eyes.  
  
"I mean it."  
  
"I _know_."  
  
"Not just for me," Peter insists.  "Bucky too.  People would come and try to take him away if they knew he was here.  Th-they already have and --"  
  
"Ohmigod, you are soooo cute," Gwen cuts him off.  "I haven't said a word all this time and even if I did, who would believe me?  I mean, I'm me."  
  
"She's got you there."  Kate wraps a hand around Gwen's arm.  "We're making treats for the big do at the Tower tomorrow night.  Since you're coming, you should help.  How are you at decorating cupcakes?"  
  
Peter stands in his driveway, watching Kate lead Gwen into MJ's house.  He has no idea what just happened or how he's going to explain this to Mary Jane.  Or to Steve.  
  
Or anybody.  
  
  
  
0000000000000000  
  
  
  
  
"I wasn't aware that lasagna was a traditional Thanksgiving dish," Steve says and then ducks when Karen throws an oven mitt at him.    
  
"It's very traditional.  Also, we're feeding three super soldiers, one Red Room assassin, a vegetarian Hulk, a Norse God, a bunch of teenagers and a smattering of normal people.  We need lasagna.  It's very filling."  Karen picks up her glass of white wine and eyes Steve.  "Did you only come here to mock my holiday cooking?"  
  
Steve inhales deeply, savoring the aroma.  His stomach growls loudly.  "I wouldn't dream of mocking your holiday cooking."  
  
"Good, because I'm going to need your help carrying all of this tomorrow."  Karen lowers her glass of wine.  "Thanks for scheduling whatever meeting that was this afternoon because Foggy and I were able to leave early and start cooking."  
  
"Foggy's cooking?"  
  
"He's the herbed, roasted potatoes guy.  His mom's recipe," Karen laughs.  "And be sure to compliment him on the turkey selection.  Foggy comes from a family of butchers and got us a great deal."  
  
"The meeting," Steve explains, reaching for her glass and taking a sip of Karen's wine, "was to come up with a plan so that we could avoid a repeat of Halloween and Veteran's Day."  
  
"You're trying to control a bunch of super-powered teenagers?  Good luck with that."  She reaches into her kitchen cabinet, retrieves a wine glass and pours Steve his own glass of Pinot Grigio.  
  
"Not control."  They clink glasses.  "Keep them out of harm's way."  
  
Karen snorts and nearly drops her glass.  "You think if someone wants to cause trouble at the parade, they'd give up because Spider-man and his little friends aren't there?"  
  
"Of course not," Steve admits.  "But why wave a red flag in front of a bull?  Besides, the kids could use a nice, quiet holiday.  So could Buck.  His first Veterans Day was... well, not ruined, exactly, but the kids planned to make it special for him."  
  
"Ohmigod, that's so sweet!"  Karen's smile is infectious.  "They really love him, don't they?"  
  
"And thank God for it.  His doctors say it's helped his recovery considerably.  Even if his memory isn't what it was..."  Steve trails off.    
  
"The loving environment is helping with the PTSD and to overcome everything else HYDRA did to him," Karen finishes.  "Matt has the doctors' reports in his case file.  If there ever is a case.  Pepper thinks that's less likely now that everyone thinks the Winter Soldier is a big softie."   Something must show on his face because she snaps at him with the dishtowel.  "I've had cocktails with Pepper a few times.  Also with Natasha.  They're very interesting women."

"You'll like Mary Jane then.  She's a miniature Pepper."  
  
"It looks like Bucky's not the only big softie."  Karen's voice drops into a teasing tone.  "You really like those kids, don't you?"  
  
"There's a lot to like," Steve says.  "Look, I'm not thrilled with the idea of them putting themselves in situations that might be too dangerous for them, but I feel better knowing that Buck is watching over them when the Avengers aren't."  
  
"You're going to make a wonderful father some day," Karen smiles.  "And you just made my ovaries weep."  
  
Of course he blushes because... "I'm never going to get used to the things you modern women say."  
  
"And I'm never going to be upset about that."  She cocks her head to one side.  "Well, look at that.  Maybe I was a little hasty when I called you a 'softie' before, soldier."  
  
Steve chokes on the sip of wine he's just taken.  
  
"We have forty more minutes while the lasagna cooks.  Got any ideas how to pass the time?"  
  
Boy, does he ever.  
 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
  
  
  
  
Clint knows something is up the second Barnes finishes reading the text message because the man's entire body goes tense and alert.  "Should I get my bow?"  
  
Barnes slowly turns in Clint's direction and there's a brief instant where Clint is certain he's being registered as a threat.  "Petey says he's bringing a guest for Thanksgiving.  Considering the last guest he brought to the Tower was Deadpool, what do you think?"  
  
"You guys are sleeping here tonight, right?"  
  
"Yeah," Barnes says tightly.  "Aunt May's mission requires an early start in the kitchen."  
  
"Here we go," Clint sighs.  "The slumber party from hell.  Is Steve coming back?"  
  
Barnes shakes his head.  "Punk sent me a 'don't wait up' text."  
  
" _Steve_ sent that?" Clint's jaw drops.  " _Virgin_ Steve?"  
  
" _Inexperienced_ Steve."  Barnes' eyes narrow at Clint and his mouth presses into a thin, disapproving line.  "There were plenty of good time girls in Brooklyn and in Europe during the war.  Just because Stevie couldn't talk to a dame didn't mean he couldn't do other things with 'em."  He snorts at Clint's expression.  "Don't look so damn shocked or so damn nosy.  That's all the dirt you're getting."  
  
But of course Clint can't leave it there.   "So what you're saying is, Karen's in good hands."  
  
Barnes closes the distance between them and grips the front of Clint's sweater in his cybernetic fist, lifting Clint several inches off the floor.  "What I'm saying is, leave it be, Barton.  If Stevie wants to discuss his love life with you, he will.  If _you_ want to discuss his love life without him, you'll have to do it without lips."  
  
Before Clint can respond, there's a blue-white glow in the middle of the common room and then Billy, Peter, Kate and a blonde girl that Clint doesn't recognize appear.  They're all carrying boxes.  
  
The time it takes for Barnes to release Clint and react is so infinitesimal that Clint doesn't see it until Barnes is facing the kids, fists clenched.  
  
"We brought treats," Kate announces, "but they're for tomorrow, so _hands off_ , Barton.  Billy-boy, why don't you teleport this stuff into the kitchen instead of making us carry it?"  
  
Billy rolls his eyes but the boxes disappear in a flash of blue-white light.  "I have to get home for dinner.  See ya."  And with another burst of light, he's gone.  
  
Kate shrugs and heads into the kitchen.  
  
" _Gwen_?!" Barnes is eyeing the girl.  "You brought _Gwen_ here?"  
  
Aunt May bursts out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron.  She gathers Gwen into a hug.  "Gwen!  Is everything all right?"  
  
"Fine, Aunt May."  The girl fiddles with the strap of her backpack.  "My dad had to work and Peter said it would be okay if I came for Thanksgiving."  
  
"She _knows_ ," Peter says.  He gives Barnes a pathetic, whipped-puppy-dog look.  "She knows about me and she knows about you."  
  
"Because, hello, it's so obvious," Gwen tells Barnes.  "And I'm not an idiot."  
  
Barnes doesn't look convinced and Peter looks even more hangdog.    
  
"Gwen's a good girl," Aunt May says firmly.  "She's not going to tell anyone, Bucky."  
  
"Who'd believe me?" Gwen shrugs.  "Everybody thinks I'm crazy."  
  
Eyes narrowed and expression as stern as Clint's ever seen it, Barnes grips the girl's shoulders.  "You're holding Petey's safety in your hands, Gwen --"  
  
"I've been looking out for Petey since I moved to Forest Hills," she cuts him off.  "My first day at Midtown High, I saw these total herbs smacking around this cute little Peter Parker boy and nobody was doing anything about it.  So I did."  
  
"With a switchblade," Peter adds.  
  
"For which I was given detention and my dad was called to the school," Gwen finishes.  "And, may I remind you, it was my first day?"  
  
Apparently, this is what Barnes needs to hear because he lets go of Gwen and straightens.  "You carrying the knife now?"  
  
She nods.  
  
"Let me see it."  
  
Sighing, Gwen pulls the switchblade from her pocket and hands it to Barnes.  
  
He flicks it open and scowls before crushing the knife in his left fist.  His cybernetic fist.  
  
"Hey!"  
  
"It's a cheap piece of garbage," Barnes tells her.  He reaches behind his back and produces a knife of his own, pressing it into her hand.  "This is a Camillus titanium gravity knife which you are _not_ allowed to pull on anyone unless your life or someone else's life is in immediate danger and _only_ after you and I have some training sessions."  
  
"Jesus," Gwen breathes.  "No wonder they hug the hell out of you.  You're effin' awesome, crazy Cousin Jimmy."  
  
Barnes winces.  "Bucky.  You can call me Bucky, like the rest of the kids."  
  
Clint clears his throat.  "I'm Clint Barton ---"  
  
"Hawkeye," Gwen says, mouth curving into a smile.  "The Avenger with the sexiest arms on the planet."  
  
He's not sure whether to be flattered or embarrassed.    
  
"You're amazing, dude."  
  
Flattered, Clint decides.  He's going to go with flattered.  "We're having training sessions in the morning.  I can show you some stuff."  
  
Gwen's eyes light up.  "Seriously?"  
  
"Seriously."  
  
"Screw the Winter Soldier snuggles.  I'm gonna snuggle me some Hawkeye."  And with that, she gives him a hug.  
  
#HawkeyeSnuggles.  He can so get behind that.  
  
  
  
  
0000000000000000  
  
   
  
  
"What aren't you telling me?"  
  
Jessica winces.  Matt's enhanced senses are awesome... most of the time.  "We have one more person coming for Thanksgiving."  
  
Matt lowers his fork and leans back in his chair and Jessica knows he's focusing those enhanced senses completely on her.  "Who?"  
  
"Look," Jessica tries to deflect.  "I know you're already not thrilled with Jane Foster and that Darcy person knowing who you are, but Thor vouched for them, right?  So, if Peter or I vouched for our friend --"  
  
"A teenager?  As in another After School Avenger?"  
  
"Um, kind of."  Before Matt can make an issue of her telling a half-truth, Jessica plows ahead.  "Her name is Gwen Stacy and she goes to school with Peter.  She's... Well, it's kind of complicated."  
  
"We have all night," Matt points out.  "And a good portion of tomorrow, too."  
  
Telling Matt that Gwen is kind of crazy probably isn't a good idea, Jessica decides.  He can find that out for himself.  Tomorrow.  "She knows Peter is Spider-man and that Bucky is living with the Parkers."  
  
Matt's head tilts ever so slightly to the right but he doesn't say a word.  
  
One of these days, Jessica tells herself, she'll build up immunity to his interrogation tactics.  Eventually.  Maybe.  "She stays with the Parkers sometimes.  A-and there was this time after her mom left ---"  
  
"This is the girl whose mother didn't want to be a mother or a wife anymore," Matt finishes. "Peter's mentioned her once or twice.  Her father is a police officer.  A detective."  
  
"Yes," Jessica says quickly.  "And if she was going to tell anyone, she would have told him ages ago."  
  
"Captain George Stacy," Matt murmurs.  "He was on the scene when Natasha, Sam and I were..."  He trails off.    
  
It takes her a second to figure out where he was going.  "In Queens, dealing with the other clones."  
  
"Yes."  He raises his chin and looks thoughtful.  "You're right.  If this Gwen were going to tell her father about Peter, that would have been the time."  
  
"O-or any of the times she stayed over when Bucky was there."  
  
Matt's attention focuses on Jessica again.  "That doesn't mean I'm comfortable with her knowing about me."  
  
"She's at the Tower now."  
  
"Now?"  
  
"Yes," Jessica confirms uncertainly.  "With Bucky and Clint.  A-and Tony and Bruce."  
  
"You kids are going to have to learn to be more careful with your identities," Matt warns.  
  
Jessica considers pointing out that Karen, Claire and Foggy all know about him.  Instead she asks, "Did you invite Claire?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because it's complicated, Jess."  
  
"We have all night and part of tomorrow, Matt."  
  
Matt smiles at her and its one of those rare, warm smiles that she loves seeing on his face.  It's the kind of smile that makes her feel safe and loved.  She wonders if he knows how those smiles make her feel.  "You're becoming quite a smart ass."  
  
"I'm learning from the best."  
  
"Eat your spicy noodles, smart ass, and finish your homework so we can go out on patrol."  
  
Yeah, he knows.  
  
  
0000000000000000  
  
  
  
"Are you mad?"  
  
Bucky lowers the book he's reading about the Apollo moon landings and eyes Peter.  "I'm not thrilled but like the girl said, she's not stupid.  My entire disguise consists of wearing a sleeve and glove and trying not to look like a psychotic murderbot, if I'm quoting Stark correctly."  
  
"He called you that once --"  
  
"In earshot."  
  
"And Steve nearly decked him for it."  
  
"Still bugged me."  
  
"As it should," Peter assures him.  "We can work on a better disguise.  I mean, I'm not exactly an expert but maybe you can wear glasses or something.  Steve manages to walk the streets without people realizing who he is.  I think it's because New York is so crowded and people aren't really paying attention.  As long as you blend in, it should be okay."  He catches Bucky's frown.  "That's not what's bothering you, is it?"  
  
"It's nothing."  
  
"You don't like being in the Tower," Peter guesses.  
  
Bucky nods tightly.  "Between the labs and the constant surveillance..."  
  
"You mean JARVIS?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
It occurs to Peter that's why Bucky is in Peter's room and not the room that Tony set up for him.  He thinks fast.  "Know what I don't like about staying here?"  
  
Bucky raises an eyebrow.  
  
"This whole building is like a giant invitation for someone to attack the Avengers."  The words have barely left his mouth when Peter realizes that's not exactly wrong.  "Would you... uh... do you..."  He gives Bucky the look that always works on Aunt May and sometimes works on Bucky.  "Would you mind... ?"  
  
"You want me to watch your six tonight," Bucky concludes.  "I can do that."  
  
There are probably a million reasons why a grown man and a fifteen year old boy shouldn't share a bed but Peter thinks there's an exception to be made in this case.  Especially since his bed is the size of a small island.  "Thanks Bucky."  
  
The look Bucky gives him says that they both know the truth.  He leans over and ruffles Peter's hair.  "Stevie and I could only afford the one bed when we shared a place in Brooklyn.  And he snored to wake the dead."  
  
"Think he still does?" Peter asks.  "I didn't hear him snore when we were camping but..."  
  
"We can ask Karen tomorrow," Bucky grins.  
  
Peter's mouth drops open when he understands what Bucky just implied about Steve.  "Really?"  
  
"Really."  
  
They high five each other and then settle into a much happier companionable silence with their books, side by side on Peter's massive bed.  
  
Operation: Thanksgiving is off to a great start, Peter thinks.  
 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
  
  
  
Barnes is in the middle of telling Petey a funny story that he recently remembered about his sniper training days when there's a knock at Petey's door.  A quick glance at the bedside clock tells him that Aunt May has already turned in and it's an hour past Petey's bedtime as well.  He doubts any of the Avengers would drop by so late which means that Peter's visitor is either Kate or Gwen.  Bucky's money is on the blonde.  
  
Apparently, Peter comes to the same conclusion because he just sits there, with a deer in headlights expression on his face.  
  
"Somethin' you wanna tell me, Romeo?" Barnes asks.  He's not completely serious but he also knows that Gwen hasn't made a secret of her crush on Petey.  Not that Petey's aware of it.  The kid is completely oblivious when it comes to girls.  
  
Petey shakes his head vigorously.  
  
"Then go see who's at the door."  
  
The person knocks again, more insistent this time.  
  
With a sigh, Peter hops out of bed and opens the door to his rooms with Barnes on his heels.  Both Kate and Gwen barge in and they're holding StarkPads.  Barnes isn't surprised to see that Kate is suited up and carrying a quiver full of arrows on her back and Kate doesn't seem surprised to find him in Petey's rooms.  
  
"Put your Spidey suit on," she tells Peter.  "We're going vampire hunting."  
  
"Say what?!"    
  
"Check it out," Gwen says, thrusting her brand new StarkPad -- a gift from 'Mr. No Inferior Technology Under My Roof' himself -- under Petey's nose.  "They just found two more bodies on ESU's campus."  
  
"Two more?"  Peter recoils at the sight of whatever's on the screen.  "Holy geez..."  
  
Barnes snatches the StarkPad from Gwen's hand and prepares to send the kids back to their rooms.  He's ready to tell them to let the cops handle it.  To let _anyone_ handle it.  And then he looks at the screen.    
  
"There have been four bodies so far," Gwen explains.    
  
"Show them the video, JARVIS," Kate orders.  
  
Both Petey and Barnes crowd over the StarkPad to watch a bunch of cops huddled over a pair of bodies.  
  
Gwen points to one of the cops.  "That's my dad."  She eyes Peter.  "Which means _that's_ the task force he's on.  And _these_ are the autopsy reports from the first two victims, courtesy of my dad's unimaginative user ID and password."  
  
Barnes understands maybe a third of what he's reading.  Petey, on the other hand, understands everything.  
  
"These victims weren't just exsanguinated," Peter murmurs, reading the report.  "They were drained of _everything_.  Body fat, bone marrow...  Jeez.  They're _mummified_."  
  
"So... Mutant?" Kate suggests.  
  
"Maybe but..."  Peter gnaws at his lower lip while he works the problem in his head.  "The X-Men have this thing called Cerebro that they use to find mutants.  If it was a mutant, they'd have been all over this and they're not."  
  
Kate narrows her eyes at him.  "How do you know that?"  
  
"Because this guy --"  
  
"Or girl," Gwen interrupts.  
  
"Is dangerous and the X-Men get involved if a mutant is dangerous," Peter finishes.  "I don't think it's a mutant.  I think it's something else.  I think..."  He trails off, lost in thought.  
  
"Sounds like a job for the After School Avengers then," Kate decides.  
  
Barnes wants to tell them no.   He's _supposed_ to tell them no.  Didn't he agree -- just this morning, in fact -- that the kids were staying in the Tower?  Except... How was he supposed to know there'd be a friggin' _vampire_ type thing running around?  "Petey, suit up.  Kate, go grab Clint.  Gwen, you're on Comms --"  
  
"Hell no," she cuts him off.  "I'm the one with the access to the task force files.  I'm the one who knows all the police codes.  And I'm --"  
  
"Not trained," Barnes tells her firmly.  "That makes you a liability in the field."  
  
Gwen rolls her eyes at him.  "My _dad_ is a _cop_.  I can sneak into places with the best of them and if we get caught, I can talk our way out."  
  
"You think the Winter Soldier ever gets caught?" Barnes counters.  
  
"Oh, come _on_!"  
  
"She can be on my squad," Barton says, dropping out of the vent.  "Katie-Kate and I can start her field training."  
  
Gwen raises an eyebrow in a silent challenge.  
  
"Fine," Barnes relents, jabbing a cybernetic index finger into Barton's chest for emphasis as he says, "You're responsible for her."  
  
Kate and Gwen exchange high-fives.  
  
Clint's eyes narrow.  "Where's Peter?"  
  
"He's changing," Barnes says but even as he says it, he knows that he's wrong.  
  
Peter is gone.  
  
Operation:  Thanksgiving has officially gone sideways.  
  
  
0000000000000000  
  
  
  
This is his fault.  
  
Peter isn't sure how it's his fault, not yet, but he's sure that he is at least partially responsible.  
  
He knows this because the first two victims were Doc Connors' lab assistant and a security guard.  Both bodies were found in Connors' lab.  And there was no way he could explain any of this to Bucky, Kate and Gwen without telling them about what Doc Connors did to himself.  The thing that Peter promised to keep secret.  
  
The thing that Peter is sure killed those people.  
  
He has no idea what the doc has done to himself now, but Peter is positive of one thing.  
  
He's going to be the one to stop Connors.  
  
  
  
00000000000000  
  
  
  
"He ditched us," Kate complains as they head to the garage.  "I can't believe Peter ditched us."  
  
"That's because you don't go to school with him," Gwen tells her.  "He's an expert at it.  One minute, we'll all be hanging out on campus, the next, somebody starts shooting or whatever and poof!  Peter's gone.  And then later, he shows up with some lame-o story about fainting or being locked in his locker or something.  It's amazing the entire school hasn't figured out he's Spider-man."  
  
Bucky is the first one out of the elevator and he's halfway across the garage, starting up Steve's motorcycle before Kate can blink.  She stands there, hands on hips and swears silently about stupid super soldiers.  
  
"Swell," Clint grumbles.  "Now Barnes ditched us.  You'd swear the two really were father and son."  
  
"Are we gonna just take that?" Gwen asks.  
  
Clint cuts his eyes to her.  "What do you think?"  
  
"I think that _nobody_ ditches Hawkeye," Gwen tells him and Clint practically preens.  
  
Kate rolls her eyes.  "Clint gets ditched all the time, fangirl."  
  
"I don't get ditched," Clint mutters, snatching the keys to Tony's Charger.  "I just can't fly or run as fast as a super soldier."  He squares his shoulders.  "And I'm the best there is at what I do."  
  
"When you get there," Kate teases, silently claiming shotgun.  "If there are any bad guys left."  
  
"Yeah? And which of us got ditched first tonight?"  
  
Kate squeezes her eyes shut.   It's going to be a long ride to ESU.  
  
  
  
000000000000  
  
  
  
Peter knows the way to the science building and he knows exactly which skylight opens directly into Doc Connors' lab.  More importantly, he knows where the security cameras are and, instead of disabling them with webbing, he instructs JARVIS to loop the signal.  He's got this under control, he thinks.  He can handle this before Bucky and the rest of the team show up.    
  
He's handled Doc Connors before.  He can do it again.  
  
With that thought firmly in mind, Peter lowers himself to the floor and starts examining the crime scene.  It's not hard.  There are two chalk outlines showing where the bodies were found.  Everything else is surprisingly neat.  Untouched.  
  
Peter makes his way to Connors' desk.  The drawers are locked and the desktop is bare, save for a framed photo of Connors' son.    Peter yanks the desk drawers open, one at a time and starts to examine the contents.  He's not sure what he expects to find but all he finds are time sheets for the lab assistants and expense reports. And a thick folder marked 'Roxxon Grant.'  Pay dirt.  
  
"Find anything interesting, punk?"  
  
"H-how'd you get here so fast?"  
  
The plates in Bucky's cybernetic arm whir softly as he raises his hand, pointing accusingly at Peter.  "You have ten seconds to explain yourself before I haul you out of here and ground you for a month."  
  
"Ground me?" Peter echoes.  
  
"Five seconds."  
  
"I -- look out!"  Spider sense blares a warning and Peter shoves Bucky, pushing him out of harm's way.  Unfortunately, Peter isn't able to avoid the attack.  
  
The long, scaled tail swats him across the lab, sending him crashing into a workstation.  
  
"Paaaaaaarker..."  
  
Peter's handled Doc Connors before.  
  
He can do it again.  
  
He hopes.  
  



	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
  
  
  
  
Barnes' memory of anything but the recent past is spotty on the best of days but even if he could recall everything, he's sure that he's never faced anything remotely like the thing in the lab that's attacking Petey.  It reminds him of the creature from those strange, English-dubbed Godzilla movies that Petey made him watch.  Except this thing is real.  
  
The grey-skinned reptile stands over six feet tall and has sharp claws as well as a maw full of sharp teeth.  And then there's the tail.  The tail is three quarters the length of the thing's body and it's whipping ferociously fast.    
  
But that isn't the worst of it.  
  
The thing is _talking_.  
  
And Petey is talking _back_.  Like he and this creature are old friends.  
  
"Y-you've gotta stop, Doc!  I mean it!"  Peter dodges the tail again, clinging to the ceiling while the thing bellows in frustration.  
  
"Sssstooop..."  The thing leaps up after Petey, slashing violently with its claws even as he propels himself out of harm's way.  
  
Not fast enough.  
  
Those claws rip through Petey's body armor like it was paper and the boy gasps in pain.  
  
That's Barnes' cue.  He pulls the P-30 from his thigh holster but before he can shoot, Petey snags the weapon with his webbing, yanking it from Barnes' grip.  "Dammit, Petey!"  
  
"Don't shoot him!" Petey argues, using the momentum to slam the gun into the creature's face with a satisfying 'thwack'.  "We just have to exhaust him or knock him out and he'll revert back."  
  
Revert back?  That's when he puts it together.  This thing is a _person_!  Barnes promises himself that when this is over, he's going to have a long talk with Petey about withholding crucial intel as well as ditching his CO.  He has no idea what kind of punishment he's going to mete out.  Not yet.  But there will be punishment.  Severe punishment.    
  
But that's going to have to wait.  
  
First things first and no, he's not going to screw around and _exhaust_ this thing.  
  
With a growl, Barnes lunges for the lizard creature, landing on its back and pummeling it in the base of its skull with his cybernetic fist while it tries its damnedest to throw him off.    
  
Good luck with that.  
  
Barnes is holding on tight to the creature with his knees and his right hand, just out of reach of the lizard thing's claws.  His left hand hits the thing with the force of a pile driver.  If not harder.  He wasn't called the Fist of HYDRA for nothing, after all.  No, Barnes has used this fist to punch holes in armored trucks.  Thick as the lizard thing's hide is, strong as it is, the cybernetic fist does its job.  
  
The creature staggers.  
  
Petey gives it a face full of webbing, followed by webbing its feet together before bouncing upwards and punching the thing in its jaw.  
  
And then it topples to the floor, unconscious.  
  
Barnes leaps off as it falls, eyes narrowed to slits and jaw clenched.  He's about to start ripping Petey a new one when the the lizard thing's body starts turning pinkish.  
  
It starts turning _human_.  But that's not the craziest thing.  The crazy thing is that its right arm starts to wither, becoming a mutilated, useless human limb.  
  
Peter is on his knees beside the man in a flash.  "Doc?  Doc, are you okay?"  He glances up at Barnes.  "Get him that lab coat over there, will you?"  
  
Barnes pulls his Luger instead and aims it at the naked man.  
  
With an exasperated sigh, Petey snags the lab coat with a web and gently drapes it over the man's body.  "Come on, Doc.  I know you're tired but we need to talk.  I need you to tell me you didn't kill those people and that you're not working for HYDRA."  
  
The mention of HYDRA is enough for Barnes.  He uses his left hand to grab Petey's arm and yanks him away from the guy.  Hard.    
  
"Oww!  Cut it out!" Petey protests, swatting ineffectually at Barnes' cybernetic hand.  
  
"What the hell do you mean, he's working for HYDRA?" Barnes demands.    
  
"The file I found says the doc's been getting grant money from Roxxon," Petey tells him.  "And we know they're a HYDRA front."  
  
Barnes eyes the unconscious man, decides he's not getting up any time soon and focuses on Peter.  The kid squirms uncomfortably under his stare.  "You," Barnes says firmly, "are in a world of trouble, Petey."  
  
"I-I --"  
  
"Shut it."    
  
Petey wisely shuts up.  
  
The doc, on the other hand, groans and sits up, rubbing his head.  He squints in their direction.  "Peter?  Who's that with you?  Is that...Bucky Barnes?"  The man laughs weakly.  "Jesus.  I guess I should be grateful you didn't show up with Captain America."  
  
Petey's wince is visible even under his mask.    
  
Barnes keeps his gun trained on the guy but he seems oblivious.  
  
"Curt Connors," he says to Barnes, pulling on the lab coat.  "I suppose I should thank you both --"  
  
"No," Barnes cuts him off, coldly.  "What you should do is tell us what the hell you're doing for HYDRA before I lose my temper."  
  
Connors' mouth forms an 'O' of surprise.  "HYDRA?"  
  
"The grant," Petey clarifies.  "Roxxon is a front for HYDRA."  
  
"That explains the constant demand for progress reports," Connors sighs.    
  
Petey huffs out an impatient breath.  "Enough stalling, Doc.  People are dead and I don't think you personally killed them but I've got a really, really strong feeling you're closely involved with what did.  Start talking before you find out how much of a sidekick Bucky Barnes isn't."  
  
Connors eyes Peter.  "You're not going to like it."  
  
As if anyone needed to tell Barnes that.  
  
  
  
  
0000000000000000  
  
  
  
Captain America isn't the only one who can come up with a plan, thank you very much.  Clint Barton has been handling himself and other operatives in the field for a lot longer than he's been an Avenger.  Operatives.  Teenagers are a whole different ballgame.  But even still, he's prepped and ready by the time he pulls into the parking space that JARVIS found.  But like most plans, tonight's goes straight out the window the second he steps out of the car.  He and the kids are greeted with the sound of gunfire, screams and an unearthly shrieking hiss.  
  
Ordering Gwen to stay with the car and monitor comms is the safe move.  The smart move.  It's also the move most likely to backfire.  Everything Clint knows about this kid from their brief acquaintance says she's going to sneak off the second he turns his back and either follow him or look for her old man.  
  
"You stay close," Clint tells her.  "If I tell you to take cover, you take cover.  No questions, no backtalk.  We clear?"  
  
Gwen nods.  
  
He can hear Peter pitching a fit as he pulls the the Sig Sauer P226 from his shoulder holster and holds it out to her.  "You know how to use one of these?"  
  
"My dad taught me," Gwen says, taking it and checking the clip expertly.  She eyes him.  "One in the chamber."  
  
"You shoot only if your life is in danger.  Got me?"  
  
She nods.  
  
"Stay close and let me know if you have trouble keeping up."  She won't, of course.  Clint can tell that off the bat.  The kid has guts and, he thinks, raw talent.  Perfect for SHIELD, if they can get their act back together, that is.    
  
Kate is already ahead of them, acting as advance scout.  Just like he trained her.  Like Gwen, Kate started out with guts and raw talent and now she's almost as good as he is.  Maybe even a little better in a couple of things, not that he'd admit it out loud.  Clint likes the idea of nurturing another talented kid and he knows Natasha's going to want to take this one under her wing, too.  
  
There's another burst of gunfire off to the left.  
  
"Library building," Kate says in his ear over the comm link.  "I'm on top of the clock tower.  Vantage point is perfect."  
  
As hasty as prep was for this, JARVIS efficiently provided them with the university's layout.  He knows exactly where the library is -- and it's on the other side of the campus.  "How many?"  
  
"Half a dozen cops and..." Kate's voice trails off.  "A thing."  
  
"A thing?  Like a Chitauri?"  
  
"It's... person-shaped.  Teeth.   Lots of teeth."  
  
"Person-shaped?" Clint echoes.  
  
"I can't describe it -- holy shit!  It just ate a cop!"  
  
Gwen's face goes deathly pale and Clint swears loudly as she takes off ahead of him, gun drawn.  
  
Clint is right behind her.  He's so close, in fact, that he crashes into her when she stops short and throws up noisily onto the grass.  When Clint sees why, he nearly loses his dinner right along with her.    
  
Three uniformed cops are dead, their bodies completely desiccated.  
  
"Katie-Kate," Clint says, reaching for an exploding arrow, "Give me a location."  
  
Kate does better than that.  She fires an exploding arrow of her own and there's an unearthly shriek from the north side of the campus.  
  
Gwen wipes her mouth and spits onto the grass.  "I'm fine," she tells him.  "Let's go."  
  
Clint considers warning her not to run ahead again but he figures she's learned her lesson.  No point rubbing her nose in it.  He takes off, Gwen two paces behind.  They cross the campus just as Kate lets loose with another exploding arrow.  
  
And then he sees it.  
  
A reddish, oozing _monster_ and it's standing over the body of another cop.  A plainclothes cop.  With a gold shield.  
  
"Dad!  No!"  Gwen pulls the Sig and starts firing at the thing.  She empties half the clip into it but the bullets do absolutely nothing.  
  
The monster stands there, with huge yellow eyes, its head cocked to one side and maw open wide, long pointed tongue waving threateningly as it considers Gwen.  And then it shoots a tendril of red ooze at her.  
  
Gwen screams.  
  
Clint fires his exploding arrow.  
  
Kate fires a flash bang.  
  
The monster shrieks again, releases Gwen and oozes into a storm drain.  
  
But the damage is done.  
  
Captain George Stacy is dead and Gwen looks like she's close to joining him.  
  
Operation: Thanksgiving is officially FUBAR.  
  
 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6  
  
  
  
Peter knows he screwed up.  He knew that the second he sneaked out of the Tower and he knew that Bucky wasn't going to be happy with him.  
  
What he wasn't prepared for was this.  
  
Bucky is _pissed_.  
  
And he's pissed at Peter.  
  
Worse, Bucky looks dangerously close to crossing over to Winter Soldier levels of violence when he hears Clint's voice over the comm link.  Peter can tell it's Clint's voice but he can't make out what Clint just said.  Whatever it is, Bucky's jaw goes even tighter and so does the skin around Bucky's eyes.  
  
His cybernetic fingers dig painfully into Peter's arm when he says almost mechanically, "Gwen's father is dead and she's hurt."  
  
"H-hurt?" Peter echoes.  He feels dizzy.  He feels like he's falling.  
  
"That thing started draining her.  JARVIS says she's in a coma.   Kate's taking her back to the Tower so Bruce can --"  
  
"No!"  Peter wrenches free from Bucky's grip and lunges for Doc Connors.  "What did you do!? What did you do _this_ time!?"  
  
Bucky pulls him off of Connors, restraining him.  Barely.  "Settle yourself, Petey."  Reluctantly, Peter stills.  Satisfied, Bucky returns his attention to Doc Connors.  "Start talking, Doc, or it's not gonna be a scrawny kid you need to worry about."  
  
The doctor rubs his decaying right arm with his left hand and then, sickeningly, removes the withered limb.  "I'm a geneticist, Mr. Barnes.  When I first met Peter, I was working on a solution to regenerate limbs and tissue.  My funding was being cut off, my marriage was crumbling and I needed a miracle.  I thought I had it.  Instead, I turned myself into a monster."  His gaze ticks to Peter, who is still being restrained by Bucky.  "Peter saved me from myself and he's kept my secret all this time.  In return, I patch him up every now and again.  Or I did.  I suppose he has you for that now."  
  
Bucky slowly releases Peter and curls his hands into fists.  The plates of his left arm click and whir with the movement.  
  
Connors watches that movement.  "I-I don't expect you to understand yet, Peter.  You won't, not until you're older and have to fight for funding."  
  
"What.  Did.  You.  Do?" Bucky hisses.  
  
"We inadvertently created a rejuvenating organism."  
  
"An _organism_?  You _created_ an _organism_?!"  Peter has a sickening feeling he knows how the organism was created but he needs to hear it from Connors' own mouth.  "How?"  
  
Connors' eyes dart nervously to Bucky.  "We took a sample of your blood from the last time I patched you up and spliced together some DNA strands for experimentation.  Just experiments, Peter.  We did forty different genetic equations.   I-it wasn't anything complex.  Just cut-and-paste experiments."  
  
Bucky goes still beside Peter.  It's the stillness of a cobra about to strike.    
  
"One of those experiments..."  Connors swallows, his throat working slowly.  "We took Peter's DNA and some of mine... To see if my codes would learn from yours..."  He trails off and what he's not saying worries Peter almost as much as what he just said.  
  
Peter takes a step towards the doctor.  "Tell me.  I want to hear it from you."  
  
Connors sucks in a shaky breath.  "I-it wasn't working."  
  
"And?" Bucky prompts.  The word is loaded with menace.  
  
"We dug up some of your father's notes and we used the sample we had," Connors says quietly.  He doesn't meet Peter's eyes as he goes on. "You see, all of your father's work was in cellular reconstruction and we spliced them to see if the healing --"  
  
"You stole my father's work?!"  Peter's voice is shrill.  
  
Connors winces.  "No, I had it from before.  From Eddie Brock --"  
  
This time, Bucky doesn't stop Peter when he lunges for Doc Connors, grabbing the geneticist by his borrowed lab coat and lifting him into the air.  "What is _wrong_ with you!?  H-how could you do this?"'  
  
"Peter, you don't understand --"  
  
"I understand," Peter grates.  "You mixed _my_ genetically altered DNA with _your_ genetically altered DNA using my father's stolen work to see what would happen.  Look what happened!  My friend's father is _dead_!  My friend might _die_!  And this thing... It's _killing_ people --"  
  
"We created a miracle, Peter," Connors argues.  "The organism started gestating itself.  It didn't need a womb.  It was growing.  Self-replicating ---"  
  
"And then it got loose," Bucky growls.  "And all along, you've been updating HYDRA on your progress, like a good little researcher."  
  
Connors hangs his head. "Y-yes."  
  
Bucky comes up behind Peter and whatever Connors sees must scare the crap out of him because he goes deathly pale.  "You're going to go directly to Avengers Tower and you're going to give all of your notes, all your research, _every goddamned thing_ to Bruce Banner and you are going to do everything in your power to save that little girl.  And if she dies, I don't care what you turn into.  I'm going to rip you to shreds.  Are we clear?"  
  
Connors nods frantically.  
  
"JARVIS, track him.  If he deviates one iota from my instructions, alert Tony and Steve and tell them he needs to be neutralized," Bucky orders.  "Petey, let go of the man."  
  
"No," Peter says.  "Not until he tells us how to stop this thing."  
  
"I don't know," Connors says quietly.  "The last time I saw the organism, it was the size of a gerbil."  
  
Bucky brandishes his cybernetic fist under Connors' nose. "That's something else you're gonna figure out.  Fast.  Every death is on your head and it's not only Petey who's keeping track now."  
  
Peter lets go of Connors and the man hesitates for a fraction of second before grabbing up the grant file from the floor.  With one last worried look in Bucky's direction, Connors flees.  
  
Swallowing hard, Peter pulls off his mask and looks up at Bucky.  "I-I'm sorry --"  
  
"Not now, Petey."  
  
"But --"  
  
"But there's a thing out there and it's killing people," Bucky snaps.  "Your apologies can wait.  We have work to do."  
  
Peter flinches at his tone.    
  
Bucky's expression softens.  "Petey, you and I are gonna have a very long talk.  Later."  
  
"I guess I'm grounded, huh?"  
  
"I'm gonna have JARVIS research all the ways I can ground you, kiddo."  
  
"If we don't get killed fighting that thing tonight," Clint says from the doorway.  "Kate and I shot it with flash bangs and explosives and it laughed them off.  Anyway, I called in some reinforcements."  
  
With that, Clint steps aside.  Matt, Jessica and Thor walk into the lab.  
  
Jessica lowers her mask, her expression a mirror of Peter's worried look.  "Venom?"  
  
"Worse," Peter tells her.  "Some kind of Venom hybrid using my DNA and Doc Connors'."  
  
She jerks a thumb in Thor's direction.  "All we need, right there."  
  
He raises an eyebrow as he realizes she's right.    
  
Pointing at herself and then at Peter, Jessica adds, "And the rest of what we need, right here."  
  
"No," Peter protests.  "I'm not letting you --"  
  
"You think it won't come after me?  I'm as much food as you are."  
  
Matt and Bucky stiffen at the word 'food' but Matt beats Bucky to the punch by saying firmly, "The two of you had better start explaining yourselves. Right now.  And I mean _everything_.  You don't want to know how much trouble you'll be in if you leave out the smallest detail."  
  
As one, Peter and Jessica flinch.  
  
Bucky turns to Matt and nods approvingly.  "You're gonna have to teach me some of that, Dad-Devil.  My spider-twin is running amok."  
  
Matt pats Bucky on the shoulder.  "Not to worry, Barnes.  You've got me on your side now."  
  
"Truly," Thor says with a smile, "these Midgardian holiday celebrations are most exciting."  
  
  
  
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"I have to go," Steve says, setting his StarkPhone down.  "Operation: Thanksgiving just went FUBAR."  
  
"Typical," Karen sighs, propping herself up on one elbow and rubbing a hand slowly over his bare chest.  "Couldn't make your excuses to leave fast enough once you got what you wanted."  
  
Steve's jaw drops in shock.  "N-no --"  
  
"I'm kidding, Steve."  She kisses him gently, then swats him with the pillow.  "You are far from that type of guy.  In fact, you're the opposite of that guy.   But I'd be lying if I said I was okay with you rushing out of here in the middle of... you know."  
  
"I wouldn't rush out at all," Steve tells her, sliding out of the sheets and hyper aware of her eyes on him as he dresses.  "But there's a... a thing.  Killing people.  It's already hurt one of _my_ people."  
  
"Is Peter involved?"  
  
"How did you know?"  
  
Karen smiles ruefully.  "You get this little worried crease between your eyebrows."  
  
"I'm sorry, Karen," Steve says.  God, is he sorry.  "I thought we'd have a quiet night --"  
  
"Neither of us was being very quiet," she teases him, sitting up and pulling the sheets around herself.  "Steve, I'm disappointed that we won't have a chance to make more dents in my drywall tonight but this is what you do.  I knew that going in.  I have no right to be upset about it.  Disappointed, yes, but not upset."  
  
He leans in and steals one more kiss.  "I'll be back to help you carry the lasagna."  
  
"Hopefully you come back for more than that, soldier boy."  
  
"Yes, ma'am."  
  
"And Steve?"  Karen looks at him seriously.  "Now that I've seen you naked, it's my duty to tell you... Be careful out there.  You don't want to deprive the women of America of that kind of national treasure."  
  
Steve blushes.  Hard.  He wants to have some kind of snappy comeback but he can't even form the words.  Instead he picks up his shield and smiles shyly at this woman he's absolutely crazy about.  Inspiration strikes and Steve grins, "You think they'll put it on a stamp, doll?"  
  
Karen bursts into laughter.  "You shit!"  
  
He easily dodges the pillow she throws in his direction as he leaves.  
  
  



	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7  
  
  
  
"Well," Clint says harshly when Peter finishes telling them absolutely everything, "that would have been helpful to know before we left the Tower."  
  
Matt can feel Peter's reaction as if it were his own.  The boy flinches, his eyes are wet with unshed tears of frustration and humiliation, his heart is pounding in his chest and he's damp with perspiration.  Talking about Doctor Connors, his friend Eddie Brock and the symbiotic creature called Venom has taken a lot out of him.  Even Jessica, Peter's clone who shares his memories of these events but wasn't a part of them, is hurting.  Matt waits a beat for Bucky Barnes to jump to Peter's defense as he always does, but it doesn't happen this time.   Matt understands.  He doesn't agree.  But he understands.  
  
He lays a protective hand on Peter's slender shoulder.  "He knows that, Clint, and it's not helping for you to make him emotionally overwrought in the field."  
  
"If we didn't need him as bait, I'd send his 'overwrought' ass back to the Tower to think about how badly he screwed up this time," Clint shoots back.  "Let Cap sort him out."  
  
Peter flinches at Clint's harsh tone but doesn't say a word.  Every single one of them, save Thor, knows that when Peter is silent, that's when he's at his most serious.  
  
And that's cue enough for Barnes to step in.  " _I'll_ sort him out --"  
  
"Peter made a promise," Matt interrupts.  "Maybe that doesn't mean anything to any of you, maybe you break your promises as easily as you make them, but I respect him for it.  How could he possibly have known how badly this Connors person was going to betray that trust?"  Never let it be said that he can't make up effective arguments on the fly.  Like everyone in the room, he's disappointed in Peter but unlike them, he sees the other side to the argument.  "Look at it from Peter's point of view.  What happens to people who are illegal genetic mutations in his experience?"  Matt turns his head in Barnes' direction for emphasis --  
  
\-- and is rewarded by the tiniest spike in Bucky Barnes' heart rate.  
  
"Gwen --" Clint begins.  
  
"Shouldn't have been here in the first place," Matt cuts him off.  "Peter didn't make that decision.  You and Bucky did.  Yes, Peter was reckless.  Yes, Peter didn't share what he knew about Doctor Connors and his suspicions about the Venom thing.  Yes, he displayed an appalling lack of judgment by not working as part of the team.  But there is more than enough blame to go around, isn't there?"  He squares his shoulders.  "This isn't the time to assign blame.  We have work to do."  
  
"Well, shit," Clint says.  "When did you suddenly develop leadership qualities?"  
  
Matt ignores him, as he so often does and directs his next words to his young friend.  "Peter, you need to be calm.  Focused.  Remember what I taught you.  The mind controls the body."  
  
"The body controls our enemies," Peter recites dutifully and he's already started the breathing exercises, bringing his skittering heartbeat back to normal.  
  
"And our enemies control jack shit by the time we're done with them," Jessica adds.  
  
"Language," Barnes scolds and Matt is relieved to see that even the Winter Soldier is calmer now.  
  
Just as Matt wonders whether he's going to be the one to break the group into teams, Steve bursts into the room.  Matt can tell exactly where Steve's come from and who Steve's been with.  
  
"Brief me," Steve orders.  
  
Peter takes a deep breath and begins.  
  
  
  
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Jessica is not stupid.  She can't be.  They made her out of Peter, who's got a genius-level IQ.  And, if you ask her, she might actually be a little smarter.  At least, she'd like to think so.  Still, she doesn't need proof of her own genius-level IQ to know that she's been paired with Bucky and Clint because Steve wisely decided to separate them from Peter.  
  
Too bad Steve didn't realize that Clint and Bucky were holding a grudge-by-association.    
  
As if she was even there when they made the decision to go vampire/monster hunting on the ESU campus!  
  
"Your spider-sense tingling?" Bucky asks for the umpteenth time.  
  
"Are we there yet?" Jessica mutters in retaliation.  
  
Bucky's eyes narrow as he looks at her.  "What?"  
  
"What?" she asks innocently.  
  
Clint just rolls his eyes.    
  
Jessica stops in her tracks and glares at them both, hands on hips.  The effect is probably obscured by her mask.  "I didn't _do_ anything.  In fact, I'm trying to help.  So cut it out already!"  
  
"If your Spidey sense isn't tingling, you're probably thinking about how to ditch us so you can find the thing on your own," Clint says.  
  
"Oh my God!"  She rolls her eyes at him and again, the effect is obscured by the mask.  "I'm not Peter!"  
  
"Aren't you?"  
  
"No!"  But now she really is thinking of ditching them both, if only for the peace and quiet.  "So knock it off already!"  
  
Bucky goes still, eyes locking with hers despite the mask.  "You think we're treating you unfairly?"  
  
"Well, yeah."  
  
"Good," he says, "because we are.  What happened to Gwen is enough for one night."  
  
"Should've taken Tony up on his offer to make leashes," Clint comments.  
  
She promised Matt she wouldn't ditch them.  She promised.  However, she never promised to take this utter crap these two are dishing out.  Jessica's mouth curves into a smile as she webs Clint's mouth shut and manages to land a blob of webbing on Bucky's chest.  "I'm _not_ Peter and you two are behaving like jackasses."  
  
"Overprotective jackasses," Clint corrects her, peeling off the webbing and spitting on the sidewalk.    
  
"Overprotective jackasses," Bucky agrees.  "And with good reason.  This thing eats people."  
  
Jessica sighs, goes up to Bucky and stands up on tiptoe to plant a noisy kiss through her mask on his cheek.  "I'm not Peter.  I was made out of him, but I'm _not_ him.  I'm not going to ditch you and I promise not to get myself hurt or killed tonight.  Okay?"  
  
Bucky looks down at her, expression softening. Finally.  "Okay."  
  
Thank God.  
  
  
  
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Bruce is so upset he has to leave the room.  
  
It doesn't surprise Tony in the least.  Sure, Bruce will be back but that won't be until after he's read Connors' notes and reviewed the results of the tests they're running on Gwen Stacy.  "JARVIS, pull everything you can on Richard Parker's work and send it to Bruce."  
  
"Those files are locked," JARVIS says apologetically.  
  
Tony raises an eyebrow.  "By who?"  
  
"Peter, sir."  
  
"Unlock them.  You know my override code."  He eyes Connors, who's sitting slumped in a chair next to Gwen's bed.  "Send duplicates of all data to Helen Cho and label it urgent."  
  
IVs pump fluid and nutrients into Gwen's body and even though Tony is an engineer by trade, he can tell that it's not going to be enough to save her.  At most, it's an interim step that will -- hopefully -- keep her alive until a solution can be found.  
  
"I never intended any of this to happen," Connors says.  He rubs his face and looks up at Tony.  "Stark International cut my funding --"  
  
"Oh no," Tony interrupts.  "You don't get to blame this mess on me.  JARV, why'd we cut the good doctor's funding?"  
  
"Doctor Connors failed to provide the necessary status reports.  There are also notes from the grant committee stating that he appeared to be intoxicated during an in-person meeting," the AI states.  The notes and the grant file are projected for Tony to read.  
  
"Send copies to Bruce and Cho," Tony instructs.  He narrows his eyes at Connors.  "So, on top of being a screw up, you're a drunk."  
  
"A screw up?  I created a self-regenerating organism," Connors shoots back.  "Do you get what that means?  And all because of a fifteen year old walking, talking scientific miracle.  Peter's blood --"  
  
"Someone's been drinking the HYDRA Kool-Aid.  Did you offer to turn him over?"  
  
"Of course not!  I didn't even know Roxxon _was_ HYDRA until Peter told me."  
  
"Oh, but I'll bet you've been trying to figure out how to get more of the kid's blood to keep your little mad scientist experiments going," Tony snaps.  "Didn't you learn anything from what happened to you?  Or what happened to Banner?  There are some things you just don't do."  
  
Connors glares at him.  "This?  From the king of the warheads?  How dare you --?"

"I learned from my mistakes and I'm trying to make the world a better place."  
  
"I'm trying to cure diseases."  
  
"No, you were trying to survive.  There's a difference."  Tony nods towards Gwen.  "Now _she's_ fighting for survival.  If she dies, well, let's say there's going to be a lot of pissed off super soldiers and heroes."  
  
"I... I have a theory," Connors says hesitantly.  
  
"Let's hear it."  
  
"You won't like it."  
  
"I don't like anything about you," Tony tells him.  "So let's hear it."  
  
Connors is right.  
  
Tony doesn't like it.  
  
That doesn't mean he doesn't agree the idea is worth floating past Banner and Cho.

 

 


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8  
  
  
  
  
"You know," Steve says quietly, "as someone who's gone off half-cocked and gotten myself in over my head and in trouble with Bucky on more than one occasion, I can promise you he's going to cool down.  Eventually."  
  
Peter's response is a soft resigned sigh as he squats on the roof of ESU's science building with Steve, Matt and Thor while they search for the creature.  
  
Inherently, Steve agrees that punishment for Peter's behavior earlier is in order but he also agrees with Matt that Peter understands what he did wrong.  And again, Bucky's been furious with Steve so very many times before for doing the brave-yet-stupid thing both pre- and post-serum.  "I know you're sorry --"  
  
"I can't be sorry enough," Peter says, jerking away from the hand Steve was about to put on his shoulder.  "Gwen's hurt because of me.  Her father is dead.  How many more people are going to pay the price because I thought I could put on this stupid suit and ---?"  
  
"No," Steve cuts him off.  "Gwen's hurt because she was somewhere she shouldn't have been.  That's on Clint and on Bucky.  They should have known better.  We also can't say her father died because of you.  Indirectly, maybe, and very indirectly at that.  Taking responsibility for what you did wrong is a good thing but martyring yourself isn't."  And didn't Bucky used to say that to him all the time?  
  
Peter swallows hard.  "Are you taking my suit away?"  
  
"That would be letting you off easy," Steve tells him.  "You can take a break from being Spider-man if you need to but we're not going to punish you by telling you not to help people who need it.   The hard thing to do, Peter, is to keep going and to learn from your mistakes.  The lesson we need you to learn is that it's not only about you anymore.  You're part of a team and we can't have your back unless you have ours.  So no, you're going to keep going out there and patrolling with your team.  Just don't be surprised if Kate gives you what-for when you see her next."  
  
The boy groans and then cocks his head in Steve's direction, asking quietly, "What are you gonna do exactly?"  
  
"Well," Steve says, "If I know Bucky, his punishment is going to consist of a lot of chores and hours spent getting your ass kicked in some of the toughest training he can come up with.  How do you think I learned how to box and get windows so spotless?"  
  
"Bucky's punishment?  A-aren't you...?"  
  
"Bucky's your squad leader."  Yes, he knows he's making Bucky the heavy in this scenario but _he's_ the one who's going to have to come down on both Bucky and Clint for bringing an untrained kid into the field.  With disastrous results.  He doesn't want to think about the possibility of the Stacy girl dying.  Steve forces a wry smile.  "Don't worry, Peter, I'll be there when he hands down his sentence to make sure he doesn't overdo it."  
  
"My father stripped me of Mjolnir, my birthright and exiled me to Midgard the last time I disappointed him," Thor puts in, looking thoughtful.  "Of course, I'd nearly started a war with Jotunheimr, so it could be argued that the punishment fit the crime, as you mortals say."  
  
Peter makes a strangled noise.  "You what?"  
  
"A tale for another time, my young friend."  
  
Steve cuts his eyes over to Matt.  "And you?"  
  
"I was a model child.  Even if I wasn't, nobody wanted to punish the poor blind kid, especially after I was the poor _orphaned_ blind kid."  Matt's mouth curves into a smirk.    
  
There's an 'except Stick' that belongs on the end of that sentence and although Steve knows at least some of the story, he's not going to bring it up.  "Really?  Sister Fiona never rapped you across the knuckles with a ruler?"  
  
"Sister Joan and no.  Not once."  The smirk is positively gleeful now as he adds, "Never got caught."  
  
"I never got in trouble until I got bit by that stupid spider," Peter mutters.  "Now I miss school, disappoint my family and friends and get people killed."  
  
"Hey," Steve scolds him.  "None of that, Peter.  You behaved very irresponsibly but are you going to do it again?"  
  
"No."  
  
The real answer, Steve knows, is 'probably not unless it's an emergency'.  After all, Steve still behaves pretty irresponsibly himself sometimes.  "That's all Bucky wants to be sure of.  He cares about you so very deeply, Peter.  That's why he's so angry.  As for Gwen, she's going to be fine --"  
  
"You don't know that," Peter says hotly.  
  
"I have faith," Steve counters.  "If anyone can help her, it's Bruce.  With Tony helping _him_ , there's nothing they can't do.  As for the rest of us, we can pray."  
  
"Amen," Matt says softly.  
  
Thor toys with Mjolnir's strap.  "We can also vanquish the beast that harmed the girl."  
  
"Amen," Matt repeats, more enthusiastically this time.  He stiffens, tilting his head to the right like a bloodhound on the scent.  "There," he says, pointing.  "The damn thing smells like you, Peter.  Sort of."  
  
It takes Steve a good few seconds to find it but when he does, he nearly doesn't believe his eyes.  The creature resembles the black slime monster from the photos Peter showed him during their trip to the Grand Canyon, except this monster is dark red and has glowing yellow eyes.  
  
And a mouthful of sharp teeth.  
  
Suddenly, Steve hates this plan.  
  
A lot.  
  
He turns, half-expecting Peter to have already left but the boy is tensely waiting for Steve to give the word.  Bucky is going to be happy when he hears that.  
  
"Go get him," Steve says.  "We're right behind you."  
  
It shouldn't be possible for Peter to look grateful, not with his mask, but he does.  
  
And then he takes off.  
  
  
  
  
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Peter has his orders and he's going to follow them.  He's going to prove to Bucky that he can do the right thing, the right way.  He's going to prove to _himself_ that he can do the right thing, the right way.  The smart thing.  And the right thing is to lure this beast off ESU's campus, far away from any civilian casualties, and over to the abandoned paper factory on West 137th Street.  Just like Steve planned.  
  
All Peter needs to do is make the thing chase him.  
  
But first, he needs to stop it from killing the pretty girl it has cornered by the bike racks.  
  
Peter swings in hard, kicking the the beastie away from the girl.  "Get out of here!"  
  
She doesn't waste a second, scrambling to her feet and taking off.  
  
The thing doesn't waste a second either.  It opens its mouth wide, exposing a mouthful of sharp teeth and a long, prehensile tongue that seems to beckon Peter.  Tendrils of red goo erupt from its body as the thing studies him with a predatory, yellow-eyed stare.  
  
And then the thing's appearance shifts, its face a red, gooey copy of his.  
  
Peter startles.  Hard. "Gah!"  
  
"Guh," the thing says.  
  
This can't be happening.  This.  Cannot.  Be.  Happening.  It has _his face_!  The abomination has his freaking face!  Peter lunges for the thing, punching it with all his might, sending it flying.  
  
A red tendril that ends in sharp, pointed claws or maybe teeth comes flying in his direction.  
  
"Hey, dummy!  We're supposed to lure this thing to the paper factory not play kissy-face with it!" Jessica calls as she grabs the tendril and yanks, pulling the creature to its knees.  If it had knees.  
  
The thing freezes, its head jerking back and forth as it tries to process that there are two food sources.  
  
It doesn't get to freeze long.  Clint fires a grappling hook arrow right into the thing's chest.  Bucky grabs the rope and pulls.  There's a sickening slurping sound and then a clang as the thing simply reshapes its body to expel the hook.  
  
And then it attacks Bucky.  
  
  
  
  
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Barnes is no stranger to being shot at, to knife fights and, more recently, to fighting Oz-enhanced maniacs.  Fighting a red slime monster?  That's a whole new experience that his HYDRA handlers never anticipated when they programmed him with methods of murder and destruction.  It doesn't mean he can't handle it.  
  
The slime monster is used to preying on terrified co-eds and cops.  It's never deal with a super soldier before and he can tell by the sound it makes when he easily dodges its attack that it's confused by prey that fights back.  
  
He can tell because it's looking at him with _Petey's_ face.  
  
Barnes isn't confused.  Barnes is _angry_ and, more importantly, he knows so very many ways to try to hurt this thing.  It's small, just about Peter's size and build and as he punches it viciously with his cybernetic fist, there's a niggling worry that he's somehow hurting Peter.  That maybe he _wants_ to hurt Peter.  Because this thing is an abomination.  But Barnes?  He's a _monster_ that HYDRA created that's trying to pretend he's a human being and worse than that, he's a monster that trying to be a goddamned _father_ to a fifteen year old kid.  
  
The self-examination and self-doubt last until the thing shifts back into a shapeless mass with a maw full of pointed fangs as it flies through the air when Barnes hits it with everything he has.  
  
Clint, bless him, shoots arrow after arrow into it.  The arrows are more nuisance than anything else but enough of a nuisance that Peter is able to punch the thing in the direction of the paper factory.  
  
They're herding it along Riverside Drive and just three blocks from their destination when a squad car intercepts the creature.  Barnes curses in Russian as the cops emerge from their car, order everyone down and then open fire indiscriminately.  
  
At least until the creature shoots out twin red tendrils and drains them dead in under a second.  
  
What happens next strains Barnes' sometimes tenuous grip on reality.  
  
The creature's appearance shifts to something all too human.  
  
Something naked.  
  
Something that looks a lot like Petey.  
  
  
  
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Peter emits a strangled sound and throws himself at the creature that's now wearing his father's face, pummeling it with force that would kill a normal human. It's coming up on three in the morning and here he is, fighting a thing that had his face and now has his father's face.  Peter Parker has had enough.  More than enough.   "How much," Peter complains loudly, " _crap_ am I supposed to put up with in _one friggin' day_?!"  
  
The thing doesn't have an answer unless Peter wants to count the punch the thing lands that sends him flying, until he crash lands painfully on the police car.   There's a groaning sound as the hood buckles beneath him and the windshield cracks.  
  
It doesn't matter.  Peter sucks in a deep breath and gets back to his feet as the thing comes for him again.  
  
Jessica intercepts it, grabbing it from behind and throwing it onto the West Side Highway, right into the path of an oncoming truck.  There's a sickening, squelching sound and then the truck jackknifes.  She shoots a web to steady it and prevent it from overturning.    
  
Thor swoops in from overhead and steadies the truck, all by his lonesome.  And with ease.  Because, hello, he's a god.  
  
With a sucking sound, the creature pulls itself up off the pavement and goes after Jessica.  
  
"I think I made it mad," she tells Peter, dodging a tendril of red goo.  "Your turn."  
  
They are one block from the paper factory now.  
  
Peter grabs the tendril and sends the creature flying through the air until it crashes into the fence surrounding the paper factory.  It's not human.  It's not a person, he tells himself.  The abuse he's heaping on this abomination does not matter because it. Is. Not. A. Person.  
  
It is especially not a person because when Steve throws his shield at it, it just lodges in the viscous body and the thing emits a high pitched bellow of rage, lashing out at him as it uses another tendril to hurl the shield back at Steve.  
  
Clint fires yet another barrage of arrows but there's one in the barrage that makes the creature stagger, mid-lunge.  "Like that, you slimy bastard?" Clint sneers.  "That's my shock arrow.  I'm gonna have to tell Tony the field test was a huge success."  
  
That's all the opening Steve needs to grab the thing and fling it over the fence and send it skidding across the parking lot.  "Now, Thor!"  
  
Peter's seen videos of Thor in action but seeing it in person is a completely different experience.  The Norse god lands with a battle cry that makes the hair on the back of Peter's neck stand up.  Or maybe that's just the electricity that's crackling in the air.  
  
Thor raises his hammer and sends a huge bolt of lightning into the creature.  
  
It screams.  
  
Peter is so overwhelmed by what he's seeing that he doesn't realize that Matt is beside him until the man drops an arm around his shoulders, pulling him close.  Jessica tucks herself under Matt's other arm, snuggling into his side.  Steve comes up behind Peter and grips his shoulder.  
  
Three more bolts of lightning strike the creature until all that's left is a blackened patch of scorched asphalt.  
  
"I think it is dead," Thor says.  
  
"Good bet," Clint agrees.  
  
Bucky is standing off to the side, his gaze locked on Peter.  
  
Peter swallows nervously as Bucky closes the distance to stand directly in front of Peter, eyes narrowed and expression unreadable.  
  
"C'mere you little punk," Bucky says, breaking into a smile and pulling Peter from Steve's and Matt's grip to wrap his arms tightly around him.  "Enjoy a Winter Soldier snuggle before I ground your scrawny ass until next spring."  
  



	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9  
  
  
  
  
No sooner has the team gratefully crammed itself into the Escalade that Happy arrived with to pick them up than Bucky has managed to take off the top of Peter's suit.   He has the first aid kit in his lap and he's busily cleaning a set of vicious looking claw wounds across Peter's chest.   Bucky's  expression is somewhere between resigned and concerned.   Steve knows that Bucky's field medic act is their ritual and that Peter's part is to squirm, complain and protest while Bucky fusses over him like an overprotective mother hen.  Steve knows this because it was his ritual with Bucky first.  
  
Peter isn't squirming, complaining or protesting now.  He's just sitting quietly, submitting to Bucky's alternating gentle and not-so-gentle ministrations while he mutters epithets about Peter being a reckless punk.  It's obvious that Peter is trying so hard to continue apologizing to Bucky that Steve wants to hug the boy.  He's sure Bucky feels the same way.  
  
"These need stitches," Bucky scolds and yes, that's Bucky-speak for 'apology accepted punk', "and a more thorough cleaning than I can do here.  Connors got you good."  
  
"Yeah," Peter agrees sadly.    
  
"Hurts?" Bucky asks.  
  
Peter nods.  "Yeah."  
  
"Yeah?" Bucky repeats because Peter never admits to being hurt.  He's trying _so_ hard that of course Bucky meets him halfway by shrugging off his leather jacket and draping it over Peter's shoulders.  "I'll get you fixed up when we get back to the Tower."  
  
"Thanks, Bucky."  
  
"You're welcome, punk."  
  
Steve has to look down at his boots to hide his smile.  Next to him, Jessica yawns loudly and rests her head on Matt's shoulder.  
  
"Tired?" Matt asks. There's genuine affection in his voice and Steve watches both Clint and Thor smile at the equally exhausted vigilante.  
  
"Mmm," she murmurs.  "Hungry, too.  Busy night tonight what with the goo monster and that Russian gang we took down."  
  
"You know the routine," Matt tells her, because of course he's got a routine.  He's the most organized parent Steve has ever seen.  Not that Steve has seen many but Matt's version of parenting involves routines that are carried out with almost military precision.  "Clean up, snack and then off to bed with you."  
  
"Actually," Happy cuts in from behind the wheel, "the kids need to report to Medical first thing.  Doc Banner's instructions."  
  
The kids in question straighten abruptly, suddenly alert and exchange looks.  
  
"I bet he needs blood," Peter says.  
  
"Gotta be," Jessica agrees.  "It could work if --"  
  
"It _will_ work because --"  
  
"The Suit," they say in unison.  
  
"Is anybody else freaked out by the spooky Spider-Twins act?" Clint asks.  
  
"I am," Happy says.  
  
Bucky glares at the back of Happy's head and then at Clint who rolls his eyes.  
  
  
00000000000  
  
  
  
  
Bruce is waiting with an exhausted and tense Aunt May at the elevator when the team arrives on the Medical floor.  She throws her arms around Peter and Jessica immediately and then shoos them off with Bruce.  Her eyes tick from Steve to Barnes to Murdock and, finally, to Clint.  Thor, wisely, split off from the group in favor of finding snacks.  Clint hasn't had too many conversations with the woman but she looks exactly the way a concerned parent should.  In Clint's humble opinion and lack of real-world experience, that is.    
  
"The police called three hours ago looking for Gwen.  George had the foresight to leave my number in case of an emergency," Aunt May says slowly.  The words are clipped, not from anger but because she's this close to breaking down in tears.  Clint's gut clenches.  "I went to wake Gwen but she wasn't in her room.  A-and then JARVIS said..."  She swallows and takes a deep breath.  "Kate brought her in twenty minutes later.  Steven, please...  I need to know.  What happened?"  
  
"It's my fault," Barnes says and damned if the stoic and sometimes sappy Winter Soldier isn't close to choking up too.  
  
So of course Clint's eyes are stinging now.  "No.  It was mine.  I was the one who said I'd be responsible for her."  
  
"This isn't about fault," May tells them both.  "We can all find ways to blame ourselves and beat ourselves up, over and over again.  Something did this to Gwen and I'd like to understand what it was, what type of danger Peter puts himself into when he's out there.  Muggers and that... that Norman Osborn are one thing but I need to know what could do something like this.  I need to know how worried I should be when he goes out there..."  
  
"This isn't the time for that conversation," Murdock says and his voice is so calm and soothing that it seems to relax everyone.  "Just know that all of us share your concern, not just about Peter but about all the children."  
  
He's got a way about him, Murdock has.  Even though Clint calls him a smarmy, sleazy lawyer sometimes, Murdock knows how to talk to people, both in and out of his silly red devil suit.  
  
May takes a deep, shuddering breath.  "Oh, Matt...  That poor girl.  I finally got hold of Gwen's mother ten minutes before you came back and you wouldn't believe what that horrible woman said to me.  It would turn your stomach."  
  
Clint blinks.  "Her mother isn't coming?"  
  
"No," May says flatly.  "Her mother wants nothing to do with the daughter she abandoned in one of the most selfish acts in history or her husband's funeral."  
  
Steve winces.  "I'll handle the funeral arrangements --"  
  
"It's being handled," May interrupts him.  "I'm not sure if it's Tony or Pepper or JARVIS or all of them but it's being handled."  She sighs heavily and looks at Barnes.  "The house is going to be crowded and you're going to have to double up with Peter but we can make it work."  
  
Barnes nods wordlessly and it's obvious that he's still stuck on the idea of that nice kid being abandoned by her own mother.

Clint's stuck on it himself.  In fact, he's so ticked off that he finds himself saying, "I've got room.  I've got a whole damn apartment building."

Everyone stares at him.  
  
"If she wants a clean break from Queens, she can come live with me in Brooklyn and if it's too creepy to have her living in my place, I've got an empty studio apartment on the fifth floor."  The words are just tumbling out of his mouth.  He's got no idea where they're coming from.  "And, y'know, the school district is supposed to be pretty good.  There's one of those, whaddayacallit, charter schools she could go to.  So, uh..."  
  
Murdock's head cocks slightly.  "You can barely take care of yourself ---"  
  
"I do just fine, hornhead."  Clint almost flips him off but he's trying to show May Parker that he can be as much as respectable parent as Murdock is.  "And I happen to have plenty of cash so she's not gonna be eating ramen noodles or anything."  
  
"It makes you more responsible," May says at last.  "Having children.  You have to be.  You should have seen me before Peter came along.  I swore I was going to be happy being the eccentric hippie aunt but Ben's brother and his wife were trying to run a business and they needed someone to take care of Peter while they worked.   And then...  I couldn't even keep a house plant alive and suddenly I was responsible for a five year old.  I spent our first year as a family utterly terrified of screwing up so badly the state would take him away."  She eyes Clint.  "Gwen is a lovely girl and she's going to need a lot of patience while she deals with everything that life's dealt her these past few months.   Doing what Matt does with Jessica won't work with Gwen and treating her the way you treat Kate won't work either.  She needs a home and everything that comes with it.  Are you prepared to give her that, Clint?"  
  
Clint rubs the back of his neck and shifts uncomfortably on his feet.  "Look, I didn't exactly grow up in what you'd call a loving environment.  My dad got drunk and beat the hell out of us so all I really know is -- hey!"  He's interrupted when May throws her arms around him and gives him a hug.  Now he knows where Peter gets it from.  
  
She breaks away and her gaze is assessing.  "I think you'll do just fine, Clint."  
  
"I can come to you, right?" Clint asks.  "Same way that Matt and Bucky do?"  
  
"Of course you can," May promises, reaching for his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.  "Actually, I hope you'll be better about it than they are."  
  
Clint glances over at Barnes and Murdock for their reaction to the old lady's diss.  "I'll be _much_ better about it," he says and then he realizes he's just been had.  May Parker could give Nick Fury a run for his money at manipulation.  "You're good, Parker."  
  
She smiles at him.  "Welcome to the family, Clint.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a dinner to prepare because I have a feeling Gwen's going to be very hungry when she wakes up later.  Doctor Banner explained what he's going to do to help her and I imagine she'll be up and about before the end of the parade."  
  
With that, she pats Clint's arm and sashays into the elevator.  
  
Yeah, Clint thinks, he's definitely been had and it doesn't matter a bit.  He's going to be a much, much better parent than Barnes or Murdock.  They will be awed by his superior parenting skills.  
  
Unless...  
  
It suddenly clicks what Banner's plan is that involves the Spider-Twins blood.  That monster was made out of Peter's DNA, his father's DNA from that wacky bio-suit thing and Connors' DNA.  
  
Sonofabitch.  
  
He's going to have his own Spider-Triplet.  
  
He's doomed.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10  
  
  
  
Barnes doesn't bother with making conversation.  Petey is just down the hall and when last Barnes checked, the kid needed those damn wounds irrigated and stitched.  He doesn't trust Stark to pay attention to those kinds of details and if Banner is busy 'sciencing', he probably wouldn't notice either.  And Petey, being Petey, won't say a word about needing medical attention.  
  
He stalks down the corridor and of course Matt is on his heels.  His Spider-kid is down there, too.  Clint and Steve shrug and join the parade that Barnes is leading only to practically slam into him when Barnes stops short.  A woman that Barnes doesn't recognize is stitching Petey up and she's clearly a professional because her stitches are textbook perfect.  
  
"Claire," Matt says.  "What are you doing here?"  
  
"You invited me," she replies without looking up.  
  
"For dinner.  Fourteen or so hours from now."  
  
This time, she does look up and she smiles.  "Your friend Jarvis called and said I was needed here.  He's a hell of a hacker, too, because I was supposed to be on morning shift... Why are you laughing?"  
  
"JARVIS is Tony's AI," Matt explains.  "And yes, he's a hell of a hacker, among other things."  He turns slightly towards Steve.  "Allow me to introduce Claire Temple.  She's a nurse at Metro General.  Claire, meet Steve Rogers, Clint Barton and --"  
  
"Bucky 'the Winter Snuggler" Barnes."  Her smile grows even wider as she makes eye contact with Barnes.  She's beautiful to begin with and that smile only makes her even more so.  "You're Peter's... uh, dad?"  
  
"In every way except biologically," Barnes tells her.  "How's he doing?"  
  
Claire turns back to Peter and carefully puts gauze over the stitches, taping it in place.  "The wounds have been thoroughly cleaned and I stitched him up with dissolving sutures --"  
  
"Like they used on my dog," Clint puts in with a smirk.  
  
"They use them on people too," Claire says, smiling at him.  "Peter likes to take out his own stitches so I thought this would be a better option."  
  
"I only took them out myself that one time --" Peter starts to protest.  
  
"That one time being the one time I stitched you up and told you specifically to come back so I could take them out," Claire cuts him off sternly.  "God knows what you did the other times you've been stitched up, if you bothered getting stitched up at all, Mr. I Have A Healing Factor.  You and Matt are two peas in a pod."  
  
Matt chuckles.  "Who do you think taught him how to stitch himself up and take them out in the first place?"  
  
Barnes shoots a pointed look at Steve.  "Make that three peas in a pod."  
  
"Four," Steve counters, nodding towards Clint.  
  
"Well, Mr. Fourth Pea in the Pod, would you like me to do something about that cut over your left eye?" Claire asks Clint.  
  
"Huh?"  He reaches up, touches it and winces.  "Didn't even notice that happened."  
  
She pulls on a fresh pair of latex gloves and beckons him towards her before glancing at the rest of them.  "Any other injuries?  Now is the time to mention them so I can triage and treat you in order of severity.  Matt?  Any broken bones?  Cuts?  Burns?  Abrasions?"  
  
"I'm fine."  
  
"Because you finally got body armor like I told you to do about a million times," Claire tells him.  She eyes Steve.  "How about you, Captain?  All in one piece?"  
  
"Yes, ma'am," Steve agrees quickly.  
  
Claire looks over at Barnes, impressing him with how well she's picked up on who she's dealing with.  "Is he telling a fib?"  
  
Barnes narrows his eyes at Steve.  "Are you fibbing to the nice dame, Stevie?"  
  
Steve rolls his eyes and arranges his face into a long-suffering expression.  "I'm fine, Buck."  
  
"Looks like it's just us," Claire says, smiling at Clint.   
  
Barnes thinks he might be imagining that she's flirting with Clint up until he sees the way Matt is intently focusing on the two.  The corners of Matt's mouth are tugging upwards, as are Steve's who has also picked up on the sparks flying between the nurse and the archer.  
  
That, Barnes decides, is his cue to leave.  "C'mon, Petey.  It's way past your bedtime."  
  
Peter doesn't even bother making a token protest.  His eyelids are drooping and he looks so much like a sleepy puppy that Barnes debates carrying the kid to his room.  
  
"Speaking of," Steve says, "where's Jessica?"  
  
"Miss Jessica is sleeping in the recovery room next to Miss Stacy's," JARVIS tells him.    
  
Matt is already halfway down the hall before JARVIS finishes his sentence and returns a moment later with a yawning Jessica in tow.  She mutters something that might be goodnight as Matt shepherds her into the elevator.  
  
Barnes grabs Steve by the elbow and yanks him into the elevator as well.  "Give the two lovebirds their privacy."  
  
Steve grins and they all steal one last peek -- or listen, in Matt's case -- at the possible couple as the elevator doors close.  
  
  
  
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"Sorry I'm late!  I got commandeered by the Science Bros before I even woke up and I just finished transcribing all the notes and --"  
  
"Good morning, Darcy," May greets the young woman.  They haven't been formally introduced but she's been warned that Darcy is a somewhat foul-mouthed bundle of energy with a huge heart.  May likes her already.  "There's coffee and scrambled eggs, so fuel up.  We're cooking enough for an army today."  
  
Darcy snorts a laugh.  "You're so right.  I mean, two honest-to-goodness super soldiers from World War Two, two baby spider soldiers and Thor, the alien warrior prince, not to mention Nat, the other baby-Vengers and a bunch of social misfit scientists.  And their significant others and/or friends."  
  
May smiles ruefully.  "Maybe we should have done a spa day with Pepper."  
  
"We'll need one for sure after all this," Darcy agrees.    
  
"You're not kidding."  The woman smiles as she steps into the kitchen.  "Hi, I'm Karen Page."  
  
Darcy flashes a wicked smile.  "The woman who saw Captain America's --"  
  
"Patriotic smile," Steve interrupts.  He's carrying a stack of party trays.  "Hi, Aunt May!  We come bearing three types of lasagna.  And nice to see you, too, Darcy.  How's Ian?"  
  
"Don't go there," Darcy grumbles.  "He sent me a text yesterday saying he wanted to see other people since we're not even on the same continent."  
  
"Dump him," Karen instructs.  "That's guy code for he's already seeing someone else and needs an excuse to break up with you.  If you tell him to go ahead, in about two months, he'll tell you how he met someone else and he didn't expect to fall in love and blah blah blah and you have no right being pissed because you agreed to date other people.  Spare yourself and end it now on your terms."  
  
Darcy's mouth is hanging open.  "Who are you again?"  
  
"Karen Page.  I work with Matt Murdock."  
  
"I'm, like, in love with you.  No, seriously.  You're the big sister I need because Jane is totally hopeless when it comes to this kind of stuff."  Darcy takes a big gulp of coffee, sighs and then goes on.  "She told me not to make a big deal out of it."  
  
"She's dating Thor, right?" Karen asks.  
  
Darcy nods.  "She hit him with her car.  Twice.  Apparently that's a big turn-on for him."  
  
May refills Darcy's mug of coffee and a plan starts to form.  "Have you met Bucky Barnes yet, Darcy?"  
  
"Winter Snuggles is here?"  Darcy's blue eyes go comically wide and then she catches Steve's expression.  "I mean, uh, no.  I haven't had the pleasure."  
  
"He's sleeping in this morning," May tells her, ignoring the horrified look on Steve's face.  "He had a bit of a rough night last night but I'd bet he'd love to go for a walk with you this afternoon.  You'll have time while everything is in the oven and the rest of the crew is yelling at the football teams on television.  Bucky's not much of one for crowds or yelling."  
  
"He'd want to hang with me?" Darcy asks dubiously.  
  
"Absolutely," May assures her.  And Bucky will, even if May has to twist his cybernetic arm to make him go.  She raises an eyebrow at Steve, daring him to contradict her.  
  
Steve rubs the back of his neck and shifts uncomfortably before attempting to change the subject.  "Uh, so...  I can chop, uh, vegetables or do... uh, whatever."  
  
"He can," Karen agrees with a smile.  "Steve's better in the kitchen than you'd expect a guy who grew up during the Depression to be.  He can even work a food processor now."  
  
The tips of Steve's ears turn pink.  
  
Darcy's mouth drops open.  "Oh my God!  You guys are, like, so adorbs!  Why did Nat not tell me how freakin' adorbs these two are?  No wonder she's hiding out at the spa!"  
  
"Natasha and Matt have been doing... something," Karen tells her.  "I can't tell if they've progressed past covert flirting because she's a spy and he's a lying liar who lies about being Daredevil even though he comes into the office looking like he's been through a meat grinder every time Daredevil makes the news."  
  
"Nat and Matt!" Darcy squeals.  "How has nobody told me about this?  JARVIS, dude, you're falling down on the job, buddy!"  She shakes a scolding finger in the air.  Her smile fades as she looks at May.  "So what you're saying is love is in the air and everybody is paired off except me and you're trying to set me up with your pseudo-son, Winter Snuggles."  
  
"Bucky," May says firmly, "is a fine young man."  She lowers her voice and adds in a confidential tone, "He's also ridiculously good looking, not to mention an honest-to-goodness war hero."  
  
"He is," Karen agrees.  "And he'll never tell you you're not enough for him."  
  
"Oh my God," Darcy groans, burying her face in her hand. She peeks out between her fingers.   "Really?  You think we'll hit it off?"  
  
May elbows Steve.    
  
"Uh," Steve says.  "Um...  I... uh... Sure."  
  
"See?  Even Steve agrees."  May and Karen exchange knowing looks.  
  
May has a good feeling about this first Thanksgiving without her Ben.  It's started out a bit rough but she's hopeful that it's only going to get better and that by the time dinner hits the table, there will be much to be thankful about.  
  
  
  
  



	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11  
  
  
  
  
Barnes comes abruptly alert to the smell of fresh coffee and scrambled eggs.   He's not sure whether sudden wakefulness is the result of being a soldier during the war or Winter Soldier conditioning but according to Steve, it used to take a lot of effort to get him out of bed.    
  
It still does.    
  
He likes sleeping in.  No.  He _loves_ it.  
  
It's a damn good thing he loves Stevie more, he decides, slipping out of bed and casting an affectionate glance at a still-sleeping Petey.  He quietly shuts the bedroom door and gives Stevie a bit of stink-eye.  "Coffee and breakfast don't make up for the fact you're wakin' me up at the ass-crack of dawn."  
  
Steve doesn't bat an eyelash at the torrent of Brooklynese.  "With good reason, Buck.  You're being set up."  
  
That gets his attention.  Barnes tenses, the metal plates in his arm resetting themselves from what he's come to think of as 'sleep' mode to 'combat' mode.  "By who?"  
  
"Aunt May."  
  
"Come again?"  His mind starts racing, plotting an escape from six different previously identified routes from this room and all of them involve slinging a sleeping Petey over his shoulder as he goes.  
  
"Aunt May," Steve says slowly, "is setting you up with Darcy Lewis."  
  
"You shit!" Barnes explodes and then winces, hoping he didn't wake Petey.  He whispers harshly, "You got any idea how dangerous it is to set me off like that?  You fuckin' punk!  What were you thinking?"  
  
"I was thinking that you needed to be warned that there's a dame upstairs who's expecting you to go for a walk with her later."  Steve doesn't look even remotely ashamed of himself or concerned about what Barnes might have done.  "And she'll probably make eyes at you until then."  
  
Grabbing the mug of coffee, Barnes takes a swallow.  "She good lookin'?"  
  
"Darcy?"  
  
"Aunt May," Barnes grumbles.  "Of course, Darcy."  
  
"Got a fine pair of stilts," Peter mumbles, poking his head out of the bedroom.  He blinks sleepily at Barnes and Stevie.  "I told you Aunt May wasn't happy that Storm dumped you to get back together with Beast."  
  
"You did," Barnes agrees.  "You never mentioned that she was gonna fix me up with some girl."  
  
"Wait a sec."  Steve is scowling now.  "Storm dumped you?"  
  
Barnes shrugs, setting the plates in his arm off.  They click and whir as they reset from 'combat' mode to 'pissed off Winter Soldier' mode.  "S'okay, Stevie.  I wasn't ready --"  
  
"She dumped you?!"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"To heck with her then."  
  
Barnes stares at him, eyes narrowed.  "Sounds familiar."  
  
"It should.  You said it to me every time some dame you set me up with wasn't interested, which was a lot."  Steve settles into one of the comfortable chairs in Petey's den area and picks up his own mug of coffee.    
  
"Well, you've got one that's interested now, punk."  Barnes drops into the chair opposite him.  He cuts his eyes to Petey.  "Go back to bed, Punk Number Two."  
  
Peter fumbles a salute and shuts the bedroom door.  
  
Barnes blows out a sigh.  "I've gotta figure out how to punish him for what he did."  
  
"I know," Stevie agrees.  "He understands what he did wrong --"  
  
"Does he?  Bad enough he threw himself into danger _again_ and without backup but he didn't share the intel about Connors, which put the rest of us in danger.  I walked in there not knowing I had to take down a guy who could turn himself into a giant lizard thing."  It sounds crazy, even to Barnes' ears.  "If we had the slightest idea this Connors guy was involved, JARVIS could have pulled records about what the doc was working on --"  
  
"He understands that, Buck."  
  
"I can't go easy on him."  
  
"Then don't."  
  
Heaving another weary sigh, Barnes lowers his mug of coffee.  "Here's what I know about discipline, Stevie.  I think I remember my old man using the business end of a belt on my behind and I definitely remember some of the stuff HYDRA did to me.  Chaining Petey up by his wrists and flaying him open seems like overkill.  Also, kinda messy."  
  
Stevie blanches.  "Buck --"  
  
"Don't, okay?"   Barnes leans forward.  "What I'm thinking is this.  I strip Petey of being team leader for a month and put Kate in charge.  She's not gonna want to follow him anyway, not after what he pulled and I don't blame her.  Nothin' worse than followin' a CO you don't trust."  
  
"Think about making Kate a co-leader permanently.  The girl's got a good head on her shoulders."  
  
"Already decided on that," Barnes agrees.  "Kate'll keep Petey in check.  But it's not enough, is it?"  
  
"I made him clean the vents that time he insulted Clint," Steve says.  "But if you really want my opinion, make him do the thing he'll hate the most.  Have him come clean to us about everything he's done as Spider-man so we won't be surprised again."  
  
Barnes winces.  "You think we can handle that?"  
  
"Probably not but Thor brought some of his Asgardian hooch so it might help."  Steve grins wickedly.  "We should do it somewhere quiet.  Not at his home and not here at the Tower.  He'll talk more if he's relaxed --"  
  
"Too cold to go camping, Stevie, and I'm not going skiing.  In fact," Barnes warns, "no cold weather sports.  No cold weather.  Period.  I'd be fine with the beach."  
  
"Fine with me.  I'll start researching.  You realize that a trip with us isn't exactly punishment?"  
  
"It'll feel like punishment when we tell him the reason for the trip.  He'll dread it from the time we tell him the plan to the time he opens his yap and starts spillin' his guts."  He scowls and adds, "Not literally."  
  
"Deal."  
  
Barnes holds up his hand but Stevie doesn't high-five him.  He blows out an exasperated sigh, grabs Stevie's wrist and shows him what to do.  "Get with it, grandpa."  
  
"I'm very with it."  
  
"In those pants?"  
  
"What's wrong with my pants?"  
  
Barnes resists the urge to sigh.  Between these two punks, he's got his work cut out for him.  
  
  
  
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"The reason I called you two here," Bucky says, eyeing Peter and then Kate, "is because I wanted to discuss this with you two before telling the rest of the team."  
  
Kate raises an eyebrow while beside her, Peter squirms.  Clint and Steve are standing next to Bucky like a pair of silent enforcers so she thinks she has a pretty good idea of what's coming.  Peter is going to be read the riot act for last night.  Still, the big training gym seems like a weird place to have this discussion.  
  
Bucky directs his attention to Peter.  "You behaved irresponsibly, Peter.  It's one thing to take off and be reckless with your own safety.  It's another to endanger your team without sharing key information.  You've lost the trust of your team so it's only right that you lose your rank as team leader until they can trust you in the field again.  Since you're unfit to lead, you need to prove to me and to your team that you can follow, without question and without deviation.  You are hereby stripped of your rank for the next thirty days, at which time I will re-evaluate you.  Am I clear?"  
  
"Yessir," Peter says and he sounds so sad that Kate almost feels sorry for him.  Almost.  
  
"Kate," Bucky says, turning his attention to her, "you're my XO and you'll remain XO until such time as Peter proves he can lead again, at which time you will be co-leaders.  For the next two weeks, I'll be accompanying you punks in the field as well as conducting training here at the Tower two afternoons a week.  Kate, you're going to help me work up the training plan based on your observations of field performance."  
  
"Okay.  Uh, I mean, yes sir."  
  
Bucky eyes them both.  "Peter, we discussed the rest of your punishment earlier.  Tell Clint and Kate what it is."  
  
Peter swallows thickly.  "I have to tell you and Steve e-everything.  About my time as Spidey."  
  
Holy.  Crap.  Kate wants to cheer.  It's the perfect punishment.  Better than running laps or scrubbing vents or anything else she thought Bucky was going to do.  
  
"Kate, is there other disciplinary action you want to recommend?" Bucky asks her.  
  
Kate smiles.  "It's not disciplinary so much as it is getting Peter to stop avoiding it."  
  
Bucky raises an eyebrow.  
  
"Clint gave Peter a custom bow and an expensive set of starter arrows and Peter's been ducking training."  
  
"Archery training commences now," Bucky orders Peter who actually cringes a little. "From now on, if any Avenger wants to train you, you get trained _unless_ I personally give you a pass."  
  
Clint smirks.  "Well?  Go get your bow, spider-boy.  Katie-Kate and I don't have all day."  
  
Peter slinks out of the gym.  
  
Bucky waits a beat and exhales before eyeing Kate again.  "It's okay for you to be pissed with him but it's not okay to be vindictive.  Keep that in mind when you start leading the team.  Got me?"  
  
She considers being a smart ass and asking if she can be vindictive at least the first day but she can tell this was as hard on Bucky as it was on Peter.  "Got it."  
  
"I'm counting on you," he adds.  "You've got real leadership potential.  Don't be afraid to ask Stevie questions, either.  He got promoted from buck private to captain so if anyone knows what it's like to have leadership thrust upon him, it's Steve."  He cuts his eyes to Clint.  "Happy?"  
  
"Thrilled," Clint says.  "I've been waiting to see what he can do with a bow when he's not doped out of his mind."  
  
Kate looks over at him.  "Jessica thinks he made the shot for the same reason he never misses when he's web-slinging from building to building.  His spider-sense."  
  
"No shit."  
  
"I'd never shit you."  
  
"Language," Steve and Bucky scold simultaneously.  
  
Clint rubs his chin.  "Spider-sense, huh?  We should get Jess down here then."  
  
"We should get _all_ the ASAs down here.  Everyone should be cross-trained," Kate declares and then looks to Bucky for confirmation.  "Right?"  
  
"It can't hurt to assess talent," Bucky agrees.  "You're gonna be a good XO, Kate."  
  
She beams.  Lousy as the day started out, it's getting better by the minute.  
  
  
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"She started coming out of it two hours ago," Claire says, eyes glued to the monitors above Gwen's bed.  "Bruce projects she'll be awake any time during the next hour.  I asked him who I should contact and he said you're going to be her..."  
  
"Guardian, I guess," Clint finishes.  
  
Claire looks over at him, the faintest smile hovering on her lips.  "Is that a thing with you guys?  Taking in super-powered kids?  Does everybody have one?"  
  
"Tony, Bruce and Tasha don't."  Clint thinks about it and then amends.  "Well, Tony and Bruce do mad scientist stuff with Peter.  Tasha's more of the 'children should be seen somewhere else' mindset."  He glances down at Gwen.  "I think she'll hit it off with Gwen though."  
  
"You're not seriously considering taking her back out there?"  
  
"I might not have a choice if this works.  And I gotta tell you, it seems to be working."  He nods at Gwen's monitors.    
  
Claire nods and fiddles with Gwen's IV.  "Her vitals are getting stronger by the minute.  I have no idea what's in Peter's blood and I don't want to know but... damn.  I'm still not sure whether I should be grateful to Santino for finding Matt in that dumpster or curse him for it."  
  
And that's his opening.  "Speaking of, are you two...?"  
  
"Friends?  Sure, if you define friendship as him calling me or Foggy calling me when he's been beaten half to death."  Her eyes meet his.  "If you're asking if we're more, the answer is no.  I can't be in a relationship with a vigilante."  
  
He should have known.  "I get that."  
  
"Must be nice being an Avenger and not a vigilante, huh?"  
  
They smile at each other and Clint feels like this day is just getting better as it goes.  
  
"Hey," Gwen says sleepily.  "Check out you two lovebirds."  
  
He stands corrected.  The day cannot possibly get better.  
  
  
000000000000000  
  
  
  
  
"And that, my young friends, is how the Warriors Three and I defeated Surtur," Thor concludes.  He looks down at all the rapt faces with a grin.  "And now, After School Avengers, it is your turn to defeat the mighty Thor in battle.  Begin when you are ready, if you dare."  
  
Jessica swallows hard and looks over at her team-mates.  "I'm glad you two showed up," she tells Billy and Teddy.  "Peter and Kate and I are so outmatched."  
  
"We can't stay," Teddy warns.  "My mom is expecting me for dinner."  
  
"So're my parents," Billy agrees.  "But we can come back for dessert or whatever.  We told them we were doing the Black Friday thing after dinner and that we're sleeping over at Peter's tonight."  
  
"Well, go on," Bucky says, nudging Steve.   They're sitting in the training room's bleachers with the snacks that Kate delivered yesterday.    
  
Steve snatches one of Bucky's peanut butter cookies and grins.  "Let's see your young hotshots take down an Asgardian."  
  
Darcy hands Bucky a chocolate cupcake.  "Five bucks says he mops the floor with them in under two minutes."  
  
"Ten on over two minutes," Bucky counters.  "Hulkling'll surprise you and Wiccan's kind of a wild card."  
  
Matt lowers the chocolate chip cookie he was about to bite into.  "I'll take that action."  
  
Steve shoots them all a look.  "Shame on you.  As someone who's actually fought an Asgardian, I'm putting ten on _one minute_."  
  
Thor eyes each After School Avenger in turn.  "Your elders believe you incapable of defeating me.  Will you young warriors stand for being so disparaged?"  
  
"No," they chorus, sounding unenthusiastic in the face of getting their asses thoroughly kicked in front of the adults.  
  
His eyes narrow.  "I asked whether you will stand for being so disparaged?  I cannot hear your response, young warriors!"  
  
"No!"  
  
"Then come!" Thor roars.  "Show me your indomitable spirit!"  
  
Jessica fires the first salvo in the form of giving Thor a face full of webbing.  Even as she does it, she knows she's going to regret it.  Spider-sense is the only thing that saves her from having her feet kicked out from under her.    
  
Peter follows suit by webbing one of Thor's boots to the gym floor but Thor simply lifts his foot and shreds the webbing even as he peels Jessica's organic webs from his face.  
  
Kate nocks an arrow and gives a brief nod, which is the signal for Hulkling to step in.  Teddy's appearance shifts from his fair haired pale skinned self to a muscular, scaled green tower of strength.    
  
Thor's mouth drops open at the sight and that's all the opportunity Teddy needs to hit him.  Hard.  The force of the blow staggers the Asgardian, dropping him to his knees and giving Kate the opening to fire one of her new shock arrows.  
  
"Skrull," Thor grunts swatting the arrow aside as if it's nothing more than a pesky mosquito.  He faces Teddy again.  "You --"  
  
Whatever he's about to say is cut off when Peter lands on his back, wrapping his arms around Thor's throat.  "Okay, web him again!"  
  
Jessica gives Thor another face full of webbing.  "Now, Wiccan!"  
  
"It's not working!" Billy says.  "He must be magic-resistant."  
  
Thor tears off the webbing.  "Try harder, young magician."  He gives a violent shake, dislodging Peter and sending him flying into the bleachers where he lands in Bucky's lap.  
  
Peter shakes his head to clear it and leaps back into the fray.  
  
"One minute," Darcy hoots.  "Pay up, Steve!"  
  
"We're getting our asses kicked," Kate hisses.  "Spider-Twins, I want a coordinated attack.  Hulkling, keep doing what you're doing.  Wiccan, get your mojo in the game!  Now!"  
  
Jessica shoots a web to the ceiling and swings herself directly into Thor's path, barely managing to twist out of the way when he goes to grab for her ankle.    
  
Peter grabs onto Thor's leg like a toddler and pulls, toppling the Asgardian.  "Now, Hulkling!"  
  
Teddy body slams Thor while Kate shoots another shock arrow, this time landing a direct hit.  Unfortunately, it has virtually no effect.  Thor twists and sends Teddy flying across the training room.  
  
Jessica launches herself through the air, catching Teddy before he can crash into the far wall, setting him down gently.  
  
Thor catches Peter by the arm and lifts him, shaking his head regretfully.  "My apologies, young friend."  
  
"Me, too."  Peter latches onto Thor's chest with his feet, thwarting the Asgardian's plan to toss him aside.   He lands a solid kick to Thor's jaw.  "Owwww!  Geez!  What are you made of?  Steel?  Owww!"  
  
Thor snorts a laugh and then tosses Peter back into the bleachers again, this time into Steve's lap.  He turns towards Teddy and that's when he starts sneezing.  
  
Teddy's mouth curves into a smile as he takes advantage to punch Thor as hard as he can, knocking the Asgardian onto his princely ass.  Thor keeps sneezing.  
  
"Two minutes," Bucky tells Darcy.  "Pay up."  He cups his hands over his mouth.  "Finish him off!"  
  
Jessica throws herself at Thor again, trying to pin him so that Teddy can take him out.  Instead, Thor catches both of them and throws both of them into the bleachers where they crash land on the bench in front of Matt.  
  
Kate shoots arrow after arrow but Thor just snatches them out of the air even as he keeps sneezing.  He half-bows before swatting her into the bleachers with her comrades.  
  
Billy throws a ball of blue-white energy at Thor who raises a hand, absorbs it and sends it back in Billy's direction.  The young magician's jaw drops and he just stands there when the energy ball hits him directly in the chest.  
  
Two things happen.  
  
Billy hits the floor, unconscious.  
  
Thor stops sneezing.  He eyes Bucky.  "Time?"  
  
"Two minutes and thirty-seven seconds," Bucky says.  "Pay up, suckers."  
  
"You might have warned me the boy is a Skrull."  Thor eyes Teddy and it's not a completely friendly look.  
  
Teddy groans and sits up.  "I'm a mutant, not a scrub."  
  
"Skrull," Thor corrects him.  "And yes, you are one, though I think not a full-blooded one.  You are most definitely not Midgardian."  
  
"I...  No.  No, I'm not."  Teddy shifts his appearance back, leaps over to Billy's side and pulls the other boy into his arms.  "Come on, get up.  It's time to go."  
  
"What'd I miss?" Billy asks groggily.  
  
"I'll tell you later," Teddy tells him.  "Just...  Get us out of here, okay?"  
  
"Okay."  Billy waves and they vanish in a flash of blue-white light.  
  
"Raise your hand if you're confused," Darcy says, raising her hand.  
  
Bucky, Steve, Matt, Kate, Peter and Jessica all raise their hands.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some housekeeping: this chapter references events in Ultimate Marvel Team Up #10.
> 
> Some last words: I'd like to thank everyone for reading, kudo-ing and commenting. I'm of two minds whether to continue given some frankly bizarre comments that turned up on the last chapter. When that starts happening, it's usually a signal that familiarity has bred contempt and it's time to move on. At least, that's how I'm feeling for the moment.
> 
> Warm wishes to you all. 
> 
> MsB

Chapter 12  
  
  
  
  
"Are you getting this, Banner?"  Tony's voice is hitting that high pitch that he reaches whenever one of his toys is outperforming his expectations.  In this case, the toy is Gwen and she's got a whole bunch of doodads hooked up to her.  
  
Bruce grunts a response.  
  
Gwen looks both bored and irritated, not to mention a little brittle around the edges.  
  
"Hey, Dr. Frankenstein," Clint barks and is gratified when both Science Bros pop their heads up like disheveled whack-a-moles.  "Are you done treating the girl who just watched her father get killed like a science experiment?"  
  
The kid's head finally turns in his direction.  
  
"Oh, uh, sorry.  We got carried away," Tony apologizes.  To Clint.  Because, of course.  He's Tony and has limited human contact and even more limited understanding of how people interact.  
  
Clint stalks past him and starts pulling the doodads off of Gwen.  "Want to get out of here?"  
  
She nods.  
  
"We're outta here," he tells the Science Bros needlessly, leading Gwen into the elevator.  On impulse, he instructs JARVIS to take them down to his personal range.  Shooting at and blowing the hell out of things always made him feel better.  At least for a little while.  
  
Gwen follows him past the gun range to the archery range where his practice bows are neatly hung.  There's a long leather bench to the side and she immediately drops down into it.  
  
He gets the silent treatment.  Really.  So that's where he starts.  "I had no business taking you out into the field --"  
  
"I saw my dad," she says quietly.  
  
"Yeah," Clint agrees, "and I'd give anything for you _not_ to have seen that."  
  
"I wouldn't."  She fiddles with the Stark Industries sweatshirt she's wearing.  "You know how they tell you how your dad died in the line of duty?  They send people from the station to tell you.  My dad used to have to do that.  He hated it.  Hated having to tell a friend's wife or husband that someone they loved was dead and then have to look them in the eye at the funeral.  And how was anyone going to explain that to me?  I saw it and I still don't understand it.  Mr. Stark won't explain it, either.  He says I'm not ready to hear about it."  
  
Clint rubs the back of his neck.  "Yeah, well, he pays millions for therapy, so maybe he's right."   He clears his throat.  "Look, what I'm trying to say is, I'm sorry.   I was wrong to take you out there.  I knew it when I did it -- "  
  
"So why did you?"  
  
"Because I figured you'd sneak out anyway and that you could handle yourself.  And I would have been right, if we were dealing with something even remotely normal."  And he's making the same excuses he just made to Steve.  "Steve ripped me a new one for doing it by the way.  Not that that's supposed to make you feel better or like we're even or anything or... Jesus, I'm an idiot."  
  
"Where's Aunt May?"  
  
Of course.  He shifts from foot to foot before answering.  "She's upstairs."  
  
"Did she call my mother?"  
  
"Um..."  
  
"My mother doesn't want me."  Gwen's chin quivers and her eyes fill.  "She doesn't, does she?"  
  
"Uh..."  He's screwing this up.  Really screwing this up.  Clint sucks in a deep breath.  "No.  And it sucks but you know what would suck worse?  Being with someone who doesn't want you.  That's how I grew up.  At least, until my brother and I ran away.  Not that I'm telling you to run away.  That's not what I mean --"  
  
"So I'm going into some stupid foster home, right?  That's what you're telling me?  There's no other family members.  Why do you think I was staying with Aunt May this weekend?  I have nobody else!"  Gwen explodes.  "And I guess she doesn't want me either since you're here telling me the news."  
  
"What?  No!  That's..."  This.  This is what he gets for mocking Murdock's overly organized and rigid form of parenting and Barnes' bizarre brand of it.  "It's not a question of who doesn't want you."  
  
Gwen's eyes narrow at him.  
  
"There's, like, an actual list of people who want to take you," Clint tells her.  "Aunt May's at the top of that list so if that's where you want to go --"  
  
"Who else?" she asks hoarsely but underneath all that emotion is hope.  
  
Clint settles onto the edge of the bench.  "Okay, let's go over your options and I'm going to give you the straight dope about each one.  Aunt May is amazing.  No doubt about it.  But you also get Bucky Barnes and his epic levels of PTSD and all the shit Peter has going on with his web-slinging.  The pair of 'em have HYDRA and AIM stalking them, too.  So yeah, she's a terrific lady but ask yourself if you want to share a bathroom with the Winter Soldier and Spider-man."  
  
"HYDRA and AIM?" Gwen echoes.  
  
"I've known Peter for a few months and Bucky for a few months less than that," Clint tells her confidentially.  "And during all that time, the amount of crap those two have dragged me into would wreck your head.  Case in point, the thing that killed your dad?  Parker-related.  Don't get pissed at him though.  There was a mad scientist screwing around with his DNA without his permission.  That's why his blood helped you --"  
  
"And might be turning me into Spider-Gwen."  She winces and looks at him with a slightly worried expression.  "Does that mean HYDRA and... what's the other one?"  
  
"AIM."  
  
"Whatever.  Might come after me?"  
  
"I hope like hell not.  You spider-kids are a full time job," Clint complains.  Crap.  He's making a hash of this.  "Not that you'd be like that.  Or that it wouldn't be great having you around..."  
  
Gwen snorts.  "And my other options?"  
  
"Mur -- uh, Daredevil offered to take you."  Great.  Now he has to figure out whether she knows Daredevil's stupid secret identity.  "I highly recommend giving that a pass.  First off, he's a lawyer.  Second, he's devoutly Catholic.  _Devoutly_.  Makes Spider-girl there go to Catholic school --"  
  
"He does not!"  
  
"Ask her."  Suck it, Murdock.  "And while you're at it, ask about how he's got her on a schedule, checks her homework every night and is constantly grounding her for God knows what.  Grounding her is code for getting free labor in his law office."  
  
She looks skeptical.  "Jessica doesn't seem to mind."  
  
"You like wearing school uniforms, be my guest and go be a Devil."  He sucks in a deep breath.  "Then there's the last option.  It's kind of a weird one so you might be tempted to dismiss it outright.  Just... Hear me out, okay."  
  
Gwen folds her arms across her chest.  "Tony Stark?"  
  
"Hell, no!  And not Banner either."   Clint eyes her.  "Me."  
  
"You?  You don't even know me!"  
  
"I kinda know you."  And here comes the awkward part.  "Look, before the Avengers, I worked for SHIELD.  I kind of still work for them.  Fury had me looking into Spidey and that kid can't go a week without someone taking off his mask so I knew his not-so-secret identity.  Anyway, part of my surveillance detail was to look into all his little friends --"  
  
"That's creepy and disgusting!"  Gwen leaps to her feet.  "You _spied_ on me!?"  
  
"Well, technically, I'm a spy so, yeah."  
  
"You...you..."  
  
"Asshole?" Clint supplies.  
  
"Yes!"  She throws her hands up into the air.  "What kind of Avenger are you, anyway?"  
  
"The one without the super powers and the fancy armor."  Clint shrugs.  "Okay, I don't really know you but I like you.  Like you.  Not in a creepy way.  You kinda remind me of Kate and me a little.  So, here's the deal.  I have an apartment building in Brooklyn.  Yeah, a whole building.  And a dog.  Lucky.  He's a good dog and I know everybody says that but he is.  Really smart.  This Tracksuit Mafia dickbag threw him in front of a car and I rescued him and he's been my bud ever since."  
  
"What's a Tracksuit Mafia?" Gwen asks.  
  
"It's a... Look, never mind."  He runs a hand through his hair.  "I know I'm not exactly a prize.  I'm the Avenger who gets the head injuries, like, every time.  And I don't know how to cook.  Also, my cleaning skills aren't so great.  Know what I am good at?  I am an _excellent_ sniper.  Better than Barnes, even.  Don't tell him I said that, though. It'll set his PTSD off or whatever."  God, he is screwing this up so, so badly.  "You might be Spider-Gwen or you might not.  What you do know how to do is check the corners of a room before you enter and you know what to do with a gun.  I think you'd make a helluva SHIELD agent if Coulson manages to bring them back from extinction.  Shit!  Don't tell Steve I said Coulson's alive.   That's classified."  
  
Gwen chews at her lower lip.  "Foster care is starting to look like a better choice."  
  
"Aw, kid, no!"  
  
"You want to take me in because you feel guilty!"  
  
"Well, yeah," Clint shrugs.  "And if you're smart, you'll take total advantage of that by making me show you how to shoot things and blow shit up."  He sees the faintest hint of a smile on her face.  "If you're worried that I'm going to get sick of you and dump you on the streets, I gotta tell you, it's more likely to be the other way around.  So, here's what I suggest.  How about we give it a shot and if you totally hate me, you can go to Aunt May or anywhere else you want?"  
  
"CPS --"  
  
"Tony will hack his way to securing whatever arrangements you like.  Want to be an emancipated minor?  He can hook you up when you're sixteen."  
  
"That's even creepier than spying on me!" Gwen complains.  
  
Clint shrugs.  "That's Tony being helpful.  You saw what he was like when he was being generous, right?  He gave you that StarkPad and made you feel like crap for not having one in the first place.  You think we're fucked up?  Stark is even worse than we are.  Barnes, though, he's a special brand of crazy.  HYDRA fucked with his head for seventy years."  
  
"Quit while you're ahead," Gwen warns him.  "You're overselling it."  
  
"Shit."  He rubs his eyes. "Okay, I'll tell Aunt May you'll --"  
  
"Give you a shot."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"You seem kind of..."  Gwen gestures vaguely.  "Into it and everything."  
  
Clint whoops loudly.  "Hey, wanna do some target practice?"  
  
"Guns or arrows?"  
  
"Lady's choice."  
  
Gwen smiles.  "My dad would so not approve of this."  
  
"He might. I'm a friggin' Avenger."  
  
"Don't," Gwen tells him.  "That only works for Bucky friggin' Barnes."  
  
See?  It's not so bad.  He can do this.  He can.  
  
He hopes.  
  
God, is Nat going to laugh her ass off when he tells her.  
  
  
  
  
0000000000000000000000  
  
  
  
  
"Say something."  
  
"What do you want me to say?"  
  
"Anything," Peter tells Mary Jane, "as long as it doesn't include the words 'break up' or 'taking a break' or 'I hate you.'"  
  
Mary Jane rolls her eyes.  "How did all this happen in less than a day, Peter?"  
  
"I swear I have no idea and I just told you everything I know."  
  
She glares at him, fists on hips.  "So is Gwen coming to live with you now?"  
  
"Um, maybe.  Clint and Matt were also talking about taking her, so I think she's going to pick where she wants to live."  Peter wonders why he's more afraid of Mary Jane's reaction than he was of the slime monster or Doc Connors' lizard-y form.    
  
"Clint and Matt?" Mary Jane echoes.  "Clint?  He can barely take care of himself, let alone his dog.  How is he going to take care of Gwen and all her tragic baggage?"  
  
Peter stares at her in disbelief and considers pointing out that a second ago, she wasn't happy with the idea of Gwen living with him.  Instead he just shrugs.  "My guess is, he'll be on the phone constantly with Aunt May."  
  
"Assuming she lives with him."  
  
"He's kind of really into the idea.  If she turns him down..."  
  
Mary Jane looks thoughtful.  "I should go talk to her."  
  
"I thought you wanted to talk to me," Peter says and no, he's not pouting.  Well, maybe a little.  "That's why you came early."  
  
"I came early because you were having a meltdown over the Gwen thing and a panic attack over Bucky's punishment."  She snatches up a cushion from his sofa and smacks him with it.  "And again, may I point out that you have nothing to freak out over?  You tell _me_ everything."  
  
Peter sighs.  "You know I let you hit me with that, right?  Spidey sense --"  
  
"Shut up and stop avoiding the subject."  
  
"Me freaking out?"  
  
"Yes!"  
  
"Okay," Peter says slowly, scooting over to the far end of the sofa so he can look at her while he talks.  "I tell you everything and sure, you judge, right?  But Bucky and Steve?  These guys have been in epic fights.  They _judge_.  And they _freak_ when I tell them about stuff, even though they both fought the Red Skull and all kinds of crazy stuff since.  You should have seen Steve's face when I told him about Doc Connors."  
  
"They freak because they care, dummy," Mary Jane scolds him.  "And didn't you tell Matt all this stuff anyway when you confessed it to Father Lantom?"  
  
"God.  I confessed it to God.  Father Lantom was... uh, never mind."  Peter scratches absently at the bandage on his chest.  "God didn't yell at me for taking stupid risks.  Steve and Bucky will."  
  
Mary Jane frowns at him and absently twirls a strand of red hair around her finger.  "Were you happier being a solo act getting your face bashed in constantly or are you happier now with two super powered mother hens teaching you how to use your powers like a big-time superhero?  You don't have to be an ASA and you don't have to hang out here with them."  
  
"Bucky kind of lives with me," Peter points out.  
  
"Kick him out."  
  
"I cannot believe you said that."  
  
"He's going to yell at you for taking stupid risks.  If it bothers you, kick him out.  Let him go yell at Steve."  
  
Peter narrows his eyes at her.  "You're using psychology on me, aren't you?"  
  
"Those sessions with Tony's therapist are really paying off," Mary Jane grins.  She turns serious.  "You should talk to Bucky and Steve again."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"You guys were fighting a slime monster in Manhattan when you tried to explain about your promise to Doctor Connors and why keeping his secret was important to you," Mary Jane tells him.  "It turned out to be stupid to trust him, but why would you know that?  And from what you said, Matt got it."  
  
"Matt _listens_ ," Peter agrees.  "It's kind of his thing."  
  
"So will Bucky and Steve.  Talk to them."  
  
Peter flashes a goofy smile at her.  "Those therapy sessions are definitely paying off."  
  
"You're just saying that so I'll agree to make out with you in Avengers Tower."  Mary Jane flashes a goofy smile of her own.  
  
She doesn't say a word when he tells JARVIS to switch to privacy mode.  
  
  
  
000000000000000  
  
  
  
  
"Can I move yet?"  
  
Steve looks up from his sketch of Bucky and raises an eyebrow.  "Between sniper training and all that Winter Soldier conditioning, you shouldn't be this fidgety."  
  
Bucky breaks the pose and drops onto Steve's sofa with a dramatic sigh.  "I'm fidgety because I keep thinking I was too hard on Petey."  
  
"We agreed --"  
  
"No, the punishment fits the crime but I came down on him for keeping a promise to that asshole Connors."  He eyes Steve.  "How is that any different from him protecting me?"  
  
"Connors turns into a mindless lizard thing," Steve points out.  
  
"And I turn into a mindless automaton that does HYDRA's bidding."  
  
"We agreed," Steve says firmly, "that he's going to tell us everything."  
  
"You think hearing about the shit Petey got into is going to be worse than seventy years of HYDRA's mental torture?"  
  
"That's not even remotely funny, Buck."  
  
"I'm not joking."  Bucky props himself up on one elbow.  "Okay, I was joking but not entirely.  He's so damn reckless, even with all the training --"  
  
"Combat training," Steve corrects him.  "You've been teaching him to fight, not how to assess threats like they taught us.  And he's not stupid, Buck.  Far from it.  He's learning.   He just... thinks with his heart, like a kid should and not like a soldier."  
  
Bucky nods.  "I agree and I agree that the punishment fits the crime.  In theory.  In practice?  You know firsthand what interrogation does to a prisoner and even though that's not what we're trying to do, that's how Petey is going to feel.  The last thing I wanna do is break the kid's spirit."  
  
Steve takes a deep breath as it occurs to him that Bucky has a very good point.  "Then we don't treat it like an interrogation.  We treat it like... confession."  
  
Eyes narrowing, Bucky sits up straight.  "What aren't you telling me?"  
  
"Matt knows everything.  Peter gave confession just before SHIELD fell," Steve explains.    
  
Bucky goes still and his head turns in the direction of Steve's door just as there's a hesitant knock.  "Speaking of the little red and blue devil..."  
  
"Come in, punk," Steve calls.  
  
Peter walks in slowly, eyes ticking from Steve to Bucky and then back again.  "A-am I interrupting?"  
  
"Stevie was sketching his favorite subject.  Again."  Bucky nods towards the sketchbook on the coffee table.  "How're those scratches?"  
  
"Itchy," Peter tells him cautiously.  "Healing."  
  
Watching the pair interacting, Steve confirms that Bucky is right.  Peter is this close to breaking and they need to back off.  "We probably should have let you skip sparring with Thor."  
  
"No!  I wanted to do that," Peter protests.  "And it was fun.  Okay, and a little humiliating.  I had no idea Asgardians were that strong.  Are they all like that?"  
  
"Loki wasn't as strong as Thor, but he was a sneaky bastard and he had... uh, magic powers."  It still feels stupid when he says it and then he notices that both Bucky and Peter are staring wide-eyed at him.  "I never told you?"  
  
Bucky shakes his head.  "Figured you didn't want to talk about it."  
  
"Ditto," Peter agrees.  "I mean, I don't like to talk about... um... never mind."  
  
That, Steve realizes is the opening Bucky needs.  They always were a perfect team.  "Well, that sounds like something else we can talk about when we go to Santa Barbara.  Tony offered to lend us his beach house there for the weekend if we want to go tomorrow."  
  
"T-tomorrow?" Peter stammers.  
  
"It's the perfect time, really," Steve powers on.  "You don't have any breaks coming up until winter recess --"  
  
"I wouldn't mind a weekend at the beach right about now, what with this chilly weather," Bucky puts in.  "And I'd like to hear about the evil Asgardian and the alien invasion."  
  
Steve smiles down at Peter.  "I'd like to try surfing.  You swim, don't you?"  
  
"Not voluntarily."  Peter winces and tries again.  "I mean, lately.  Not lately."  His breath hitches nervously.  "Gee, I guess I'd better go pack."  
  
Bucky is blocking Peter's path even before Peter finishes turning.  "We should talk first.  That's why you came here, right?"  
  
"Um...  uh...  No...  I came... uh... to tell you Mary Jane's here."    
  
"Petey."  Bucky hooks his hands under Peter's arms, lifts him and deposits him on Steve's sofa.  "Take a load off and tell us what's on your mind."  
  
Steve settles onto the floor, looking up at Peter.  Sure, it's old-school psychology but apparently Bucky agrees because he drops down next to Steve.  
  
"I told you guys a really abridged version about how I met Doc Connors," Peter begins.  "A-and I'm not trying to make excuses or get out of..."  He swallows hard.  "Santa Barbara.  Look, I get that we had a dangerous hybrid DNA organism running around b-but..."  
  
"Tell us now, Petey," Bucky says softly.  "We'll listen.  I bet it's a hell of story, too."  
  
"People were talking about a... a sewer monster," Peter begins.  "You know, like they always do.  Giant snakes and rats and whatnot in the New York sewers."  
  
"Sure," Steve agrees.  "They did that even when Buck and I were kids.  Go figure we'd end up in some of the sewers in Europe fighting HYDRA."  He waits to see Peter's reaction.  
  
"You what?"  
  
"The sewer system was the best way to infiltrate HYDRA bases," Steve explains.  "Also the best place for explosives.  I guess the history books never mentioned any of that, huh?"  
  
"Um, no."  
  
"Bucky and I had some interesting adventures during the war, Peter.  I'll tell you about some of them, if you'd like."  He nudges Bucky.  "Buck, do you remember any of them?"  
  
"Not enough to tell a story but I could fill in some blanks, maybe."  Bucky leans against Steve, the way the used to when they were kids.  "Go on, Petey, I want to hear about the sewer monster."  
  
Peter eyes them suspiciously and then continues.  "Okay, so one of the news channels reported on Doc Connors having some kind of breakdown over losing his funding, injecting himself with his serum and his right arm regenerating.  His assistant saw the whole thing and then she fainted so the reporter was making kind of a stretch about Connors being the thing in the sewer.  And the thing was...  What happened to Connors could have happened to me.  A little less spider venom, a little more and I could have been the scary thing in the sewers.  So, um, I felt compelled to go look for him.  To see if I could, uh, help."  
  
"'Course you did, Petey," Bucky tells him.  "Thinkin' with your heart."  
  
"Not like a soldier," Steve agrees.  
  
There's another suspicious look and then Peter launches into a tale that could have come straight out of the radio programs Steve and Bucky tuned into.  Bucky's metallic fingers gouge Steve's carpet when Peter mentions the other creature he encountered when he found Connors.  A... Man-Thing.  
  
"So I dropped Connors at the hospital and I never heard anything more about him until I ran into him during the whole, uh, Venom thing.  After that, I'd maybe visit him every couple of weeks until I got really hurt during a fight and needed him to stitch me up."  Peter shrugs.  "His wife left him and she won't let him see his son.  I know he's got kind of a drinking problem, too, but he's not a bad guy.  Not really.  His experiments were supposed to help people, people who lost limbs."  Peter shoots a pointed glance at Bucky's cybernetic arm.  "If I turned him into Nick Fury, he would have been treated like an experiment instead of continuing his work.  Did I know he was going to do something that stupid?  No.  A-and even if I did, I still wouldn't have turned him in.  I'd have tried to stop him but...  I'm one genetic misstep away from being a dangerous freak myself."  He sucks in a deep breath and gets to his feet.  "Well, that's what I came here to tell you so I guess I'll --"  
  
Bucky's got Peter in a fierce hug before Peter can even finish the sentence.  "You feel better now that you told us?"  
  
"Um, yeah?" Peter says.  His voice is muffled against Bucky's chest.  
  
"Then how come you're not huggin' me back?"  Bucky releases him and stares down with narrowed eyes.  "You think I'm the only one around here that needs hugs?"  
  
"I n-never said -- hey!"  
  
"My turn," Steve says, pulling Peter to him.  "We didn't have time to listen before, Peter.  You're right.  I'm glad we had time now and I'm glad we're going to have this weekend.  Aren't you?"  
  
"Do I have to swim?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Then yeah, I'm glad, too."    
  
Steve smiles and looks over at Bucky.  "Get over here, jerk, and hug our kid."  
  
Bucky, as usual doesn't need to be told twice.  
  
  
  
00000000000000000  
  
  
  
The last time May saw this much food was at a lavish wedding a friend had.  It was a third wedding and the groom was a rich hedge fund manager.  May greatly prefers the crowd at this gathering.  The turkey, lasagna, potatoes in various forms, three types of cranberries and assorted bread and vegetables are set up buffet style on a long able against the wall.   May is fine with that.  The idea of having to pass anything down a table this long makes her head hurt.  
  
Pepper sidles up to her.  "A little birdie told me Steve, Bucky and Peter are going to Tony's place in Santa Barbara for the weekend to 'bond'.  Again."  
  
"Peter's upset by what happened to Gwen," May explains, though she supposes such a thing doesn't need much explanation.  
  
"So are you," Pepper says.  "You're also exhausted from putting this meal together.  That's why you and I are going to Tony's place in the Caymans.  Tell me if you want anyone to join us.  I know Natasha would love to come and I'd like to get to know Karen better."  Something must show on May's face because Pepper adds, "You know what?  I'll handle everything.  Don't even bother packing.  That's handled, too."  
  
May can only nod and settle into her chair between Peter and Bucky.  
  
Tony taps his glass and gets to his feet.  "Last year, each of us did our own thing for Thanksgiving.   I think Cap spent the day in a soup kitchen.  Pep and I spent it in the Bahamas.  What Nat and Clint did is classified and Bruce spent the day meditating.   This year, the entire team is here.  And our significant others.  And our friends.  And this next generation of heroes and _their_ friends.  Phil Coulson's head would probably explode if he was alive to see this.  And he'd even do the dishes if we let him have a seat at the table.  I'd like to propose a toast to friends and family.  Ours have grown exponentially this year and my costs have gone up exponentially, too."  
  
Pepper gets to her feet and gives him a light shove.  "What Tony means is that our lives are richer thanks to each of you.  And he wants to make sure you all come to Christmas dinner -- which is going to be catered, Aunt May."  
  
"Fine by me," May laughs.  
  
"Let's eat," Tony declares.  
  
May takes a moment to look around and think about how thankful she is.  She lost Ben, gained Steve and Bucky and this entire extended and slightly insane family.  
  
Christmas, May thinks, is going to be interesting indeed.


End file.
